Mismatched and Messed Up
by Nokito-chan
Summary: AU.Will Neji realize his mistake before he loses Tenten for good? Can Sasuke move on, or will Sakura haunt him forever? Eventual NejiTen, SasuSaku, other pairings. Crack and fluff! Don't like, don't read. Rated M for later chapters. Please review!
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: The muse has hit with a vengeance, and so I decided to try my hand at this story - it's been in my head for a while but I don't know if it's actually worth continuing - let me know what you think!**_

**_Warning: OOC-ness is bound to occur in vast amounts as this is a total crackfic filled with fluff that I'm writing because I need a break from the drama in Cage of Shadows^_^_**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto _**

* * *

_****__**Mismatched and Messed-up**_

_**Chapter 1**_

Tenten's heart pounded loudly the entire time she was getting ready for the party that Kiba was having that evening. _Oh, god, I can't believe I'm really going to do this, _she thought as she adjusted the blue strapless top that she'd teamed with her black skinny jeans for the tenth time. _What if he laughs at me? Or worse, just walks away without a word in that typical Neji-I-don't-face-anything-that-makes-me-uncomfortable way? _

She sighed, and took a last look at her appearance in the full-length mirror – finally satisfied by what she saw. She looked completely different from her usual tomboy self – her hair was loose and her clothes a lot more girly and tight-fitting than she would ever normally wear. She winced as she turned too quickly and wobbled a bit on her new high-heeled black sandals. _Neji had better appreciate all the trouble I've gone to, _she thought fiercely as she made her way out of her bedroom, and down the stairs – taking great care to only take small steps so she wouldn't fall.

"Oh, honey, you look beautiful!" her mother exclaimed from the door to the kitchen, and Tenten blushed in embarrassment. The look in her mother's eyes when Tenten had requested a shopping trip, for the clothes she was now wearing, had been much too knowing for Tenten's comfort – though clearly, her mother was ecstatic that she was finally showing an interest in boys and clothes.

"Uh, thanks," she muttered, and quickly continued before her mother could start gushing again, "Lee will be here to pick me up any second, so I'll just go wait out front." Her mother nodded, misty-eyed, and Tenten gave her a quick hug, before she headed for the front door. "Be back by twelve at the latest," her mother called after her.

She'd just reached the sidewalk when Lee pulled up alongside the curb and she hopped in the passenger seat, aiming a quick, and somewhat embarrassed, hello at her friend. Lee, of course, was _not _the most tactful person in the world, and he exclaimed, "Tenten! You look lovely! I'm sure that Neji will be unable to resist your charms."

Tenten groaned under her breath, and, for the millionth time, she sincerely regretted having told Lee of the plan to confess her feelings to Neji that night. "Uh, thanks," she muttered again, and quickly turned the volume of the radio up so the music made it impossible to further the conversation.

Much too quickly for Tenten's liking they reached Kiba's house, the loud music spilling onto the street and the long line of parked cars indicating that the party was already in full swing. For a moment, fear froze her into place, and Lee had to literally pull her from the car to get her moving. As they made their way up the path to the open front door, he tossed her a quick side-long glance and said, "You know, you don't _have _to do this."

Tenten shook her head vehemently, "No, I have to. I can't take it anymore – the not knowing. One way or the other, for better or for worse, tonight I'll know. And then I'll either be ecstatically happy or I'll have to move on – anything is better than this living in limbo, and flirting with each other without it ever going anywhere!" She glared at Lee as if he'd suggested that the opposite was true, and he raised his hands in surrender.

They entered the house, and Lee quickly headed off to the kitchen, while Tenten stared around her, looking for Neji. She was so caught up in her determination to get the entire ordeal over with that she never even noticed Naruto, Sasuke and Hinata standing across from her, all eyeing her in nearly unflattering disbelief.

"Oh, _hello,_" Sasuke muttered under his breath, staring at the way Tenten's top stretched across breasts he never even knew she had. Naruto elbowed him in the ribs, hard, "Oi, we've got company, bastard," he jerked his head at the blushing Hinata, "Plus, last time I checked weren't you hung up on Sakura?"

Sasuke glared at Naruto, rubbing his side, "That hurt, loser. And I was never _hung up _on Sakura – I merely stated that she's easy on the eyes – anyway, she's with Sai."

Before the argument could escalate into a fully-fledged fight – as it usually did – Hinata intervened. Leaning across Naruto, she said softly, "Um, Sasuke, I hate to tell you this but you won't have much luck with Tenten – there's … a … someone…" her voice trailed off and she blushed as she stared at her hands.

"You can't seriously mean _Lee_," Sasuke said glaring at Hinata, the disbelief evident in his tone. Hinata's blush deepened, and she started twisting her fingers together. "I-I d-don't" she stammered, but Naruto interrupted. "Sasuke – quit scaring my girl! If you're so dead-set on trying to score, when we're only trying to save you from humiliation, then go right ahead – just don't say we didn't warn you." He put his arm around Hinata's waist and quickly steered her away from Sasuke and deeper into the crowd.

_Hmph. _Sasuke quickly decided that Naruto and Hinata had no idea what they were talking about, and while Tenten wasn't Sakura, she _was_ pretty and, best of all, unattached. He'd been feeling at a bit of a loss recently – with all of his friends involved in relationships - and he'd begun to think that maybe it was time to cut his losses with Sakura – she clearly wasn't about to forgive him, and he didn't want to be alone for all eternity, on the off chance that she might wake up in a forgiving mood one morning. If he was honest with himself, there was also the added appeal of the fact that Tenten had never before displayed any interest in him whatsoever – and he loved a challenge.

Sasuke shook his head, really, he was over-thinking it, and Naruto was dead wrong, as usual. He was relieved, at least, that Naruto hadn't subjected him to a lecture about treating girls with respect – really, what was so disrespectful about admiring the beauty of the female form - so Sasuke had been spared a humiliating explanation of how he didn't intend to _score_, as Naruto so eloquently put it. Uchiha Sasuke did not do one-night stands – sleeping around was a fast track to hell – and he had no intention of ruining his life by having an unplanned pregnancy on his hands at the advanced age of 17. But he had his reputation to consider.

For some reason he was considered a player and that label suited him just fine – but then Naruto knew very well that it was just an empty label, and Sasuke definitely did not want Hinata finding out that he wasn't nearly as wild as he pretended to be – he'd had his fair share of rampant hormones and make out sessions but he'd never let up on his control – and she was sure to tell all the girls and Sasuke really didn't relish the thought of his friends teasing him about being the only virgin left in the group – even Naruto and Hinata had finally reached the next level in their relationship. No, Sasuke definitely did not want his virility called into question – before too long there would be rumors that he was _gay_.

Sasuke swept his eyes over the living room, searching for Tenten but she was gone, and he briefly kicked himself for getting so caught up in his thoughts. He took a swig from the bottle in his hand, and quickly started winding his way through the crowd, ignoring the flirtatious looks he received every now and then. She had to be around here somewhere.

* * *

Tenten stared in shocked silence at the scene in front of her. She watched as Neji smirked and grabbed Ino by the waist, pulling her toward a darkened bedroom. Thankfully they were a ways down the hallway, and so at least she was spared whatever they were saying. Her heart cracked, then shattered into a million little shards as she watched Ino briefly resisting, before allowing Neji to pull her into the doorway. Her long, blonde hair swung around her, shimmering golden in the light as she wound her arms around Neji's neck, and leaned in for a kiss. Tenten squeezed her eyes shut tightly, there was no way she would be able to hold on to the little composure she had left if she had to witness their kisses, and she quickly whirled around, blindly making her way to the kitchen – where Lee was - unaware of the tears streaming silently down her cheeks.

* * *

Lee laughed at the joke Kiba had just told, and as he turned to pick up his can of Coke – he never drank – he caught sight of Tenten hovering in the doorway. She was pale as a sheet, and trembling so violently that she had to wrap her arms around herself to stop the shaking. Concern furrowed his brow, and when Tenten raised her eyes to his, he was taken aback by the despair shining from their depths as the tears streamed unchecked down her cheeks.

Without thought, and in a tone fraught with horror he said, "Oh, god, he said no." Tenten shook her head, and her knees buckled, but Lee moved quickly and grabbed her arm to steady her. He steered her over to an empty chair, thankful that the rest of the guys had taken to their heels at the first sign of a girl in tears. Lee glanced around frantically, and spotting an open bottle of brandy on the counter, he grabbed a clean glass from the dishwasher and poured a generous measure of the amber liquid into the tumbler. "Drink. It'll help for the shock. I think." He pushed the glass into Tenten's hand, and obediently she raised it to her lips and took a small sip, before coughing and spluttering. "Drink," Lee repeated, as he took the chair next to her. When she simply took another small sip with no argument, Lee could feel his spirits sinking into his shoes. Tenten never did what she was told without an argument; it must be a lot worse than he'd thought. Softly, he stroked a hand over her hair, "Tenny, what happened?"

At the sound of her childhood nickname, Tenten burst into tears. Through the sobs she related the scene she'd just witnessed, and Lee just let her talk. A long time later, when she finally calmed down a little, she wiped at her eyes and said, "The worst part is, Neji has always hated Ino – but he'd rather be with someone he hates than be with me, I mean, there's no way he _can't _know that I'm interested in him – I've been so obvious! I'm so stupid, I should've taken the hint when he never fully responded to anything I did," she took a shuddering breath, "but I guess now I know, right?" She aimed a watery smile at Lee.

He squeezed her hand gently, "I'm so sorry this had to happen to you, but maybe it just wasn't meant to be. And, if he can't see how special you are, then he doesn't deserve you, anyway" he finished, loyally. Tenten smiled up at him, a mere hint of her usual sparkle in the gesture, and opened her mouth, but before she'd managed to get her sentence out, a voice spoke up behind them.

"Hey, what are you guys doing hanging around in here?" Neji walked over to the fridge and casually helped himself to another drink, completely oblivious to the sudden tension his appearance had caused. Once the drink had been opened, he turned to look at his friends and the first thing he noticed was the tear tracks on Tenten's cheeks. His eyes narrowed, "What's wrong, Ten? Did something happen?"

Tenten closed her eyes as she felt Lee's hand squeezing hers tightly and she knew that he was fighting just as hard against the urge to simply knock Neji's front teeth out – a sudden surge of thankfulness ran through her as she realized again how incredibly lucky she was to have friends like him. When she opened her eyes again, she deliberately didn't look at Neji, but he was not about to be put off.

Neji placed his drink on the counter and walked over to stand next to Tenten, concern in his voice when he placed his hand on her shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. "What's wrong?" he repeated.

Tenten jerked violently away from his touch, nearly landing in Lee's lap. Only Lee's quick reflexes saved both of them from landing on the floor, he grabbed her around the middle and held on tightly. Tenten glared up at Neji, who took a step back in confusion at the venom in her tone, "Don't touch me," she snarled. Neji glanced at Lee, his confusion mounting when he saw the mingled anger, guilt and sadness there. "What…?" he asked, shaking his head, but Tenten had already wrenched herself out of Lee's grasp and headed for the door where she paused and said quietly, "You know, Neji, if you didn't want me all you had to do was say so." She was shaking with anger and hurt and she didn't even stop to apologize when she nearly collided with Sasuke in the doorway. Sasuke reflexively grabbed her arm when she slipped but she merely pushed past him and stalked away.

"What the hell?" Neji asked again. Lee sighed, and ran a hand through his hair, "Don't do this to me, Neji. You're both my friends, but right now Tenten's need is greater than yours," he turned for the door and said over his shoulder, "she's right, you know. Why didn't you just tell her straight out that you weren't interested? I was there earlier today– I heard you flirting. Why get her hopes up? You've known for years that she liked you, but you still led her on with vague promises only to break her heart because you couldn't keep your pants zipped."

Neji's eyes darkened - the confusion and worry replaced by anger, "I never led her on – that's why I've always kept my distance. I didn't want to ruin our friendship no matter how attracted we were and you know that! I have no idea what I'm supposed to have done, but don't you dare blame me for Tenten letting her fantasies get the better of her. "

Lee sighed, "She saw you with Ino, Neji. But, whatever, I'll talk to you later or something, okay?" without waiting for a response he turned to leave, brushing past a smirking Sasuke who leaned against the doorframe listening to their conversation with interest.

"What?" Neji snapped as he caught sight of Sasuke who shrugged and said smoothly, "Just leaving."

Neji watched Sasuke disappearing into the hallway, and with a groan he dropped into Tenten's vacated seat. He ran his hands over his face, raking back his hair. How the hell had things spiraled out of control so quickly?

* * *

Halfway down Kiba's block, Tenten finally paused in her headlong rush. She'd been so intent on getting away from Neji that she'd simply left – walking home might take her a while but it was better than staying in the same house as that son of a bitch.

Wearily she leaned against a tree and bent over to remove a shoe, rubbing her foot and wincing when she felt the blister forming on her heel. She'd given up on wiping the tears away, they just kept coming, and so she merely stared blankly at the sidewalk, her vision cloudy. Her day had started so brightly, the hope had been like a shining beacon when Neji had asked her if she was planning on going to the party – when he'd smirked at her and told her that she'd better save the last dance for him, so he could take her home safely.

Tenten sniffed loudly and dropped her shoe so she could tend to the other foot. Walking home barefoot in the middle of the night really wasn't the smartest thing she'd ever done, but her cell phone was still in Lee's car and there was no way that she was going back to that party. By now, everyone must know what had happened and she just couldn't take pity on top of the humiliation. She sighed again and slid to the ground, wrapping her arms tightly around her legs as she buried her face in her knees, and fought against the tears.

She stiffened when she felt a presence next to her, sure that it was Lee, but her head jerked up in surprise when a deep voice sounded, "Hyuuga's an idiot." Tenten stared at Sasuke in total amazement as he lowered himself to sit next to her. Why on earth was Uchiha Sasuke sitting down next to her on the pavement? For a moment, he was quiet, too, as he scrutinized her red-rimmed eyes.

To Tenten's eternal astonishment he reached out a hand to cup her cheek and wiped at the tears on her face with his thumb before quickly withdrawing – as if he, too, couldn't quite believe the gesture. Then he gave her that lopsided smirk that was his equivalent of a grin, and said, "What he did is totally unforgivable and he's not worth your tears."

For some inexplicable reason, his words helped a little, and Tenten could finally swallow back the tears that she'd been unable to stop before. Sasuke got to his feet and stood with his arms crossed, looming over her as he said, "Now, are you going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he's gotten to you, or are you going to show him that he's not that great after all?"

Tenten swallowed before replying in confusion, "I'm not sure what you're getting at?" Sasuke sighed, and bent down to sit on his heels before her, "I mean, are you going to come back to the party with me and show him that it doesn't matter to you in the slightest what he does, or are you going to slink home and hide in your bedroom thereby confirming that he's important enough to hurt you?" He stared searchingly at her, and held out his hands.

When he put it like that she really didn't have much of a choice, and Tenten had to admit that the idea of showing Neji that he didn't matter to her anymore – that _he_ was beneath _her _now – did have appeal. Slowly, she reached out her hands and placed them in Sasuke's. His grip was surprisingly warm and firm – why had she ever thought that he would be cold – and he gave her a devastating grin before pulling her firmly to her feet. "That's the spirit," he said with a chuckle, and Tenten could finally appreciate what all the other girls saw in him – when he smiled like that … really, the boy was just far too pretty for anyone's peace of mind.

She ducked her head as she pulled her hands from his, and said softly, "Why did you come after me? It's not like we're great friends or anything." Sasuke sighed, and Tenten nearly sank back down again in shock, when he tilted her chin up and said, "Well, in this instance, I thought I might be of assistance," he grinned at her again, "I'm alone and you're alone, and so we might as well be alone together – who knows? It might even be the start of a long friendship."

Tenten couldn't help the small laugh that escaped her – really, it was just too ridiculous – _the _Uchiha Sasuke wanted to be _her _friend. But she could see the humor lurking in his tone and she decided abruptly that she wouldn't question his motives any further. She smiled back at him, ignoring the ache in her heart, and bent to quickly pull her shoes back on. That task accomplished she waited expectantly but Sasuke tilted her chin up again and said dryly, "Smile, Tenten – you want to seem happy, remember?" Tenten blushed as he examined her features, and once he was satisfied that she looked presentable again, he grabbed her hand and led her back to the party.

* * *

There was a hush when they re-entered the house, and Tenten couldn't help but be thankful that Sasuke was so used to being the center of attention. He didn't pay the stares the slightest mind, only propelled her forward with a hand on the small of her back. She had no idea what he intended to do, but her decision had been made, and so she meekly allowed him to steer her in the direction of the kitchen. She tensed up when they neared the door, and Sasuke leaned forward to whisper in her ear, "Relax, we're only getting a drink – I've got your back."

She took a deep breath and entered the room. From the corner of her eye she saw Lee start, but then she quickly glanced away when she noticed that he was standing with Neji, Hinata and Naruto. They all gaped as Sasuke grabbed a couple of bottles from the fridge, and in one smooth motion twisted the top off one and handed it to her. Tenten hadn't been paying attention to what drinks he selected, and she was so surprised when she took a sip, and realized that he'd picked her favorite drink, that she spoke without thought, "How did you know what I drink?"

Sasuke smirked and leaned forward to whisper into her ear, "I pay attention. Now, if you really want to get them talking about something other than you and Neji, just play along, all right?" Tenten couldn't help the shiver that ran through her when his breath brushed her ear, and she instinctively whispered back, "All right." Why on earth she was trusting Sasuke she had no idea, but a small, sane voice in the back of her mind whispered that she was no better than Neji – using Sasuke to make her feel better about herself. Firmly, she pushed the thoughts away – it wasn't like that, she wasn't really interested in Sasuke – her heart belonged to Neji – but since Neji had no interest in her heart she couldn't see what was wrong with allowing Sasuke to cheer her up – so what if it didn't hurt that he was _really _hot – this wasn't going anywhere. He was simply doing her a favor - allowing her to save some face.

Sasuke drew back slowly, so their onlookers would attach more significance to their whispered words than the words really warranted. Without lifting his gaze from Tenten's he called across the room, "Lee, Tenten came with you, right? Give me your car keys – we just want to get her stuff. I'll take her home later."

Tenten nearly winced, and fought against the urge to hide her blushing face in Sasuke's chest, as she heard the audible gasps from across the room, but some hidden reservoir of strength, some sense of self-preservation, and the urge to hurt Neji as much as she'd been hurt propelled her to keep her eyes locked with Sasuke's.

"Um … I don't … I mean, I promised her mom," Lee said hesitantly, the confusion evident in his tone, but Tenten cut him off. "It's fine, Lee. Don't worry. Sasuke would never do anything _bad _to me," she added with a flirtatious look up at the Uchiha, and threw a slight glance at Neji with her last words. Satisfaction zinged through her veins when Neji's expression twisted, clearly, he'd caught on to the implication that Sasuke was the better man.

Sasuke suppressed the grin that threatened when Tenten flirted slightly and pointedly threw it in the Hyuuga's face – maybe he really _was_ going to wind up liking her – she had spirit. He finally drew his eyes away from hers and crossed the room. He paused in front of Lee, as the other dropped his keys slowly into Sasuke's upturned palm. Studiously, he ignored Naruto, who was glaring daggers at him, and turned to face Tenten again. He held out his hand, and was gratified when she placed her drink onto the table and walked over, to entwine her fingers with his, without a moment's hesitation. He could feel the glare boring holes into his back, and he nearly laughed out loud again. Why he was enjoying this so much he had no idea – but something inside him had twisted when he'd caught sight of the lost, hopeless look in Tenten's eyes when she'd first brushed past him her haste to get away from the Hyuuga. It had reminded him of the way he felt whenever he looked at Sakura, and so he'd reacted without thought, the urge to help her, and in so doing, help himself, uppermost on his mind when he'd raced after her.

* * *

Dead silence rang through the kitchen as the occupants stared at Tenten and Sasuke's retreating backs. After a long, tense moment, Lee spoke up, his voice despondent, "She's totally in over her head with him," he rounded on Neji, "and it's entirely your fault! He'll use her, and crush what little self-esteem she has left." Neji glared at Lee, "I've told you, time and again, this is all a misunderstanding – I never meant to hurt her, and if she would just actually look at me, I would be more than happy to apologize. Don't make the mistake of imagining you're the only one who cares about Tenten – do you think I'm _happy _that she's fallen for Sasuke's smooth-talking?!"

"He he," Naruto laughed slightly, clearing his throat. Sasuke _was _his friend, after all, and he couldn't just stand there and let them insult him. "Don't worry – I know it seems weird, but, trust me, Tenten is safe with Sasuke – he's really not that bad. The stories get blown way out of proportion." A moment later he wished he'd kept his mouth shut, when both of them rounded on him. He raised his hands in surrender, and grabbed Hinata. Walking away he firmly ignored the frantic voices behind him, as they plotted ways to get Tenten away from Sasuke. This was one time his best friend would have to look out for himself - no way was Naruto going to get involved in this mess.

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**_A/N: Don't kill me *ducks* I know Neji is coming across as a total ass but it's necessary for his character development, so thanks for bearing with me!_**


	2. Chapter 2

**_A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews! You guys are great ^_^ and also thanks for bearing with me as I make Neji a total ass, lol. I've only just realized that, since I made them 17, they will need to go to school - this is an AU fic, after all. But this works out quite well since the school setting allows me to play with the tensions and get the characters together without having to worry about a plot twist that will allow them to 'run into each other' after an argument. Still, I just want to point out that this will not be a high school fic, not really, there won't be dances or any of those things, for example. Anyway, I hope you will all continue to bear with me ^_^  
A word of warning: lots of OOC-ness ahead. __Pleeeaaasseee review - it makes me deliriously happy!_**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto (which is a good thing if you look at this fic, lol)_**

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**__**Chapter 2**_

Monday morning dawned, and it was with dread dragging at her feet that Tenten got up and began to dress. There was bound to be stories all over school, and she just really didn't have the strength to face that yet. Thankfully, her parents had left her to her own devices for most of the weekend, and though her mother was clearly worried by her depression, she didn't pressure Tenten for answers.

Lee had been a different story. Early Saturday morning he'd arrived and he spent most of the day telling her exactly how awful Sasuke was – if it hadn't been for the fact that Tenten owed the Uchiha a rather big debt of gratitude, it would've been funny. Instead, she'd been forced to defend him to her friend, and the sad part was that, no matter that she was telling the absolute truth, Lee refused to believe that Sasuke hadn't even tried to make a move on her. Finally, Tenten had lost patience with Lee and she'd told him straight out that it had all been pretense, that Sasuke had merely been helping her to save some face after the entire Neji debacle – but Lee had refused to accept it. He insisted on believing that Sasuke was only out for one thing.

In the end, Tenten had simply remained quiet, and allowed him to rant about Sasuke – clearly, he wasn't about to be convinced that Sasuke had a good side – but she'd firmly pushed him out the door and refused to let him in again when he'd started on Neji. She didn't care how many apologies Neji wanted to give her, she didn't care how much he meant it, and she certainly did not want to hear that Neji was just as worried about her involvement with Sasuke as Lee was.

Tenten shook her head and tried to forget the events of the last few days as she walked up the front steps of the school building. As expected, a sudden hush, followed by a babble of whispered words, trailed her through the corridors, but Tenten had decided to take a leaf out of Sasuke's book, and firmly pretended that no such thing was taking place – pretended that this was just a normal day.

She'd nearly succeeded in convincing herself that this day was no different than any other, when she neared her locker and caught sight of a tall, dark-haired figure leaning against it, obviously waiting for her. For a moment, she paused, frozen in panic, but then she lifted her head high and walked straight up to her locker, still firmly ignoring the curious looks from the other students. Without a word, she reached past Neji to start twirling her locker combination, all the while cursing her traitorous heart as it sped up when her fingers brushed against his arm.

The lock clicked and for the first time Tenten glanced up at Neji, "Do you mind?" she asked, quietly. Then she quickly glanced away before the apology in his eyes eroded her firm resolve to never, ever forgive him. He sighed, and moved away so that she could open her locker to retrieve her books. "Please, Ten. Look at me," he said through the door, and Tenten was thankful that he couldn't see the way her eyes filled with tears through the metal. She took a deep breath and blinked them away before closing the door, "Why, Neji? There's no point. Lee already told me how sorry you are, how it was all a big misunderstanding, and how you'd never meant to hurt me, and like I told him, I really don't care." She was carefully avoiding his gaze, or else she would've seen a flash of something almost like pain in his eyes.

Tenten didn't give him a chance to say anything before continuing, "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I've created a rather awkward situation and all because of a silly little crush – but don't worry, I've thought about it long and hard, and I'm really over it now - no harm done, okay? You don't have to apologize or feel bad or anything." She turned to leave, but Neji grabbed her elbow, holding her back, "If everything's fine then why aren't you looking at me?"

She sighed and twisted slightly, trying to get free, but Neji wasn't letting go, and Tenten didn't want to create another scene to entertain the gossips with, so she let it slide. She raised her eyes to his and said, "I'm looking at you."

Neji's mouth twisted bitterly, "But not like you used to." At his softly spoken words Tenten couldn't help the spike of temper from getting the better of her, "What do you want from me, Neji? You didn't want those looks, remember?" Neji shook his head but before he could respond, a shadow fell over him, and his eyes narrowed in dislike. Tenten turned her head slightly to see who had caused such an expression to appear, and nearly swallowed her tongue when she saw Sasuke standing just behind her.

"Sleep well?" he murmured, taking her other arm and pulling her away. Neji reluctantly let go and Tenten shot Sasuke a grateful look – but this was really getting to be a bit much – she couldn't continue to rely on poor Sasuke to play the knight in shining armor ready to rescue her at the first sign of distress. She was so caught up in her thoughts – and of course, half of her mind was focused on Neji – that she didn't offer any resistance when Sasuke kissed her cheek lightly, and took her books from her arms. "Ready to go?" he asked, arching an eyebrow at her with a quick glance in Neji's direction.

Slowly, Tenten raised a hand to her cheek – did Sasuke really just _kiss _her? But then her thoughts righted themselves and she realized that he was obviously just continuing their charade from Friday, he _clearly_ meant the gesture as a brotherly sign of solidarity, and so she smiled slightly. "Sure," she turned back to Neji, who looked ready to commit murder, and said dispassionately, "It's fine, Neji, okay? Let's just forget about it." Then she turned and slipped her arm through Sasuke's.

A little way down the hall, Sasuke leaned down to say softly, "Nicely done. He's still staring at us, I can feel him glaring. If looks could kill…" he laughed wryly. Tenten grinned up at him; it really _was _nice to have a friend that was totally on her side, who had no divided loyalties that made it impossible for her to say what she was truly thinking and feeling. "That felt good," she admitted shyly, "I'm sorry you keep on getting dragged into my problems, but thanks, I really owe you one."

Sasuke smirked, "No one dragged me, that's what friends are for, right?" Slowly, Tenten nodded in agreement. _I guess we really are friends now. Weird how _that_ happened. _But then they'd reached the door to her homeroom, and Sasuke handed her books over. Tenten arched an eyebrow up at him, "Let me guess, you know my homeroom number because you pay attention, right?"

He laughed lightly, and tucked a strand of hair that had come loose from her double buns behind her ear, "You catch on quick." Then he was gone. In a mild daze, Tenten entered the classroom, and this time she really was completely oblivious to the curious stares when she took her seat still staring into space.

She was rudely jerked back to the present when Lee dropped down on one side of her and Temari on the other. Both were glaring at her and she winced slightly, "Um, sorry?" she asked more than said, and Temari's scowl quickly disappeared though Lee still looked as though he would like nothing better than to strangle her.

"What's this I hear about a showdown between you and Neji on Friday? Did you really catch him with Ino?" Temari asked, her eyes glinting with interest. Tenten sighed, she loved Temari like a sister, but sometimes her friend was just a little too much – she had even less tact than Lee. "No showdown," she responded, "I just got a little upset when I saw him taking her into a bedroom." She elaborated reluctantly when Temari motioned expectantly.

"What?!" Temari laughed, "Slut," she turned slightly to glare at Shikamaru who had taken the seat behind her, "and don't even think about telling me that comment is unfair – what do you think they were doing in that bedroom?" Shikamaru shrugged, and yawned. Temari turned back to Tenten, "But, seriously, it's not true that you let _Sasuke_ of all people console you, is it?" Tenten couldn't help the blush that spread across her cheeks, and Temari huffed as she leaned back in her seat, for once at a loss.

Tenten shifted uncomfortably when Temari continued to stare at her incredulously, "It wasn't like that, okay?" she said defensively, "he was just trying to help. And he's actually really nice." She added with a glare at Lee.

Temari glanced at Lee, then at Shikamaru, who had gone to sleep, before fixing Tenten with a piercing stare, "This is _not_ good. Sweetie, there is absolutely _nothing _at all _nice _about Uchiha Sasuke," Temari's tone was oddly gentle in contrast to her harsh words. "Remember how he treated Sakura a few years ago? And, then, when they moved back here, he had the audacity to make a move on her – thankfully, she'd gone on to Sai by then, so all's well that ends well for her, but don't _you _fall for his lines, okay?" she placed a comforting arm around Tenten's shoulders, "And I'm so sorry about Neji - what a jerk. You're better off without him!" she whispered, and, when Tenten shot her a strange look, she jerked her head at the slightly snoring Shikamaru behind her again and added, "Sometimes he only pretends to be asleep so he can use whatever I say against me later, but I'm on to him. Still, I wish we'd gone to the party, too. But it's not so often that Gaara and Kankuro come home from boarding school, and I really wanted to spend the evening with them. God, I'm such a lousy best friend, I should've been there for you in your time of need – then you wouldn't have fallen into Sasuke's clutches and-"

Tenten covered her ears, and laughed, "Stop, Temari! Wow, you'll really talk my ears off one of these days! I'm _not_ in Sasuke's clutches and, of course you wanted to spend time with your family. I think it's for the best that you weren't there, actually – you really would've punched Neji's lights out."

Temari nodded sagely, "I would've enjoyed it, too." The two girls shared a grin, and then Tenten turned to Lee, "Why are you glaring at me like that? I'm the victim here, remember?" she added jokingly. Lee looked her full in the eye and said, "I spoke to Neji a few minutes ago. Are you sure you don't want to retract the statement about Sasuke only being _nice_." The uncharacteristic sneer at the last word had Temari leaning forward in curiosity, and Tenten winced.

"I have no idea what you mean," she replied loftily, hoping Lee would take the hint – she did not need to be harassed about Neji at the moment. "Really," Lee's eyebrows rose, "I'm not sure how that's possible since Neji is quite convinced that he saw Sasuke kissing you."

Temari shrieked, "What?!" and Shikamaru jerked upright ("I' m awake! I swear I was just resting my eyes for a second"). Dead silence descended in the room as everyone turned to stare at them. Tenten blushed to the roots of hair, "Shut up, Lee" she hissed, frantically making shushing motions at Temari who was still spluttering. But Temari wouldn't be deterred. It sounded like she was hyperventilating, her words coming in short gasps, "You …. Sasuke … kiss …" words seemed to fail her, as if she'd tried to wrap her mind around the concept and couldn't.

Tenten groaned as she dropped her head onto her hands, hiding her blushing face. "It wasn't like that," she mumbled, but the damage had been done, and before she could even begin to state her case, the door opened to admit their teacher, and Tenten resigned herself to the inevitable uprising of gossip, that was sure to follow Temari's loud – if inadvertent – confirmation of the rumors that had already been doing the rounds.

* * *

The morning passed in a blur for Tenten – she was now no longer speaking to either Neji or Lee, and since they seemed to be returning the favor – how fair was that, she'd done absolutely nothing wrong – her morning classes were spent in tense silence. She'd been so thankful to escape her second period math class, where she was forced to sit between the two, that she'd nearly run from the room. By the end of the third period, the atmosphere had begun to lighten slightly and Tenten couldn't help but wish that the three of them could just go back to the way things had been before. Quite apart from anything else, she could've lived without the images of Neji with Ino. Turns out ignorance _really _is bliss.

When the bell rang to signal the start of their lunch period, Lee glared at Neji until he returned Tenten's hesitant smile – well, he grimaced at her, but it was better than a death glare - and Tenten really allowed her hopes to soar when Lee reached over to help her carry her books, a gesture that had been conspicuously absent all morning. The respite lasted only as long as it took them to exit the classroom – Neji in the lead, followed by Tenten, with Lee bringing up the rear. Neji stopped just outside the door, and cursed fluently under his breath before turning smoothly on his heel and stalking off without a word to anyone. As soon as he'd left her field of vision Tenten realized what it was that had pissed him off so badly - Sasuke leaned casually against a bank of lockers across from the door.

She stopped and blushed in confusion when he smirked at her. She was still dithering in the doorway, unsure of what to do, when Lee pushed roughly past her. He walked straight to Sasuke and without any warning dumped Tenten's books into the Uchiha's arms, "It's what you want, isn't it? And you always get what you want." Sasuke's eyebrows rose a little at the bitterness of Lee's tone but he only said, "Thanks."

Lee turned to look at Tenten, "Do what you want, Tenny. Obviously, the opinions of your friends don't matter to you, and I'm done wasting my breath." He turned on his heel, and with a last, sad smile at Tenten he strode off down the hallway.

Slowly, Tenten made her way over to where Sasuke stood, his brows furrowed in confusion. "What am I missing?" he asked her, still staring after Lee. Tenten sighed, how on earth do you explain to someone that he was disliked because of a reputation that preceded him?

"It's nothing," she finally replied, "he's still upset about the whole Neji thing. Spent most of Saturday talking my ear off about how sorry Neji is, actually."

Sasuke's eyebrows arched and he shifted her books around before responding, "Do you believe that? That Neji's sorry I mean."

"I don't know what to believe, to be honest. Suddenly, it's like Neji has done a complete 180 – _now _he's all caring and talkative…" she threw her hands into the air impatiently as words failed her.

Sasuke cocked his head to one side, "It's because he's jealous," he stated matter-of-factly. Tenten laughed disbelievingly, "Come again?"

Sasuke jerked his head, and she fell into step beside him, "It's because he's jealous, Tenten. I heard what he said this morning, about how you don't look at him the way you used to – he's only now realizing what he's missing. He's never had to share you before, you've never chosen anyone over him – and, believe me, that's how he's interpreting the fact that you left with me this morning." He shifted their books to one arm, and placed a hand on the small of her back to push her forward – at his words Tenten had come to a complete stop.

"Yeah, right," she finally said, disbelief coloring her tone. Like _that _would ever happen. Sasuke smirked at her, "Trust me, he's jealous," he said firmly. They entered the cafeteria, Sasuke holding the door open for her with his body, and Tenten couldn't help blushing when she brushed past him, even as her eyes narrowed and she said suspiciously, "You wouldn't by any chance be _trying _to make Neji jealous, now would you?"

He grinned at her, before dumping their books on a table and heading for the lunch line. Tenten followed, but not before casting a sad glance at her usual table – everyone was there, Lee, Neji, and Temari - all her friends. Neither Lee nor Neji so much as glanced her way but Temari gave her a look that was both apologetic and disapproving. Tenten lifted her shoulders in a shrug, hoping Temari would understand that events had just spiraled out of her control. Before she could cry at the sad smile Temari gave her in return, Tenten whirled around, and walked over to where Sasuke stood waiting in the lunch line. When she reached him, he stepped back, allowing her to cut in front of him, and Tenten kept her back turned until he leaned forward and whispered, "I'm sorry. I seem to be making things worse. You were right, I did think that Neji only needed a healthy dose of jealousy, and so I thought I might as well provide that – one of us should at least get a happy ending," he finished almost inaudibly.

She turned and smiled slightly, "Thanks, I appreciate the gesture – and no, you're not making it worse – at this point you're the only friend I can have lunch with!" she tried to lighten her tone, and sighed when Sasuke only stared at her. "Really," she insisted, "there's no way that I'm sharing a table with Neji and Ino – did you see how close she's sitting to him? Guess they figured it's safe to come out now – and Temari sits with Shikamaru. Aside from homeroom this is the only time they have to be together all day, and Temari isn't allowed to have visitors or go out during the week, so there's no way that I'm taking the little bit of time she has with Shika away from her."

She grabbed various dishes, not even noticing what she was going to have to eat, but she did catch the slight grimace on Sasuke's face, and when she looked down she saw that she'd selected the meatloaf, and quickly replaced it with another grateful look up at Sasuke. "My hero," she laughed, and he nodded in mock approval.

They made their way back to the table and Tenten was glad to see that Naruto, Hinata, Kiba and Shino were already there; maybe she wouldn't have to talk about her friends anymore. Her relief was short-lived, however, when Sasuke only waited until they were seated before continuing the conversation – a blissful Naruto was being fed ramen by an equally blissful Hinata and they ignored the others completely. Shino had never been particularly talkative and Kiba was trying to finish his homework for his next class. "What about Lee?" Sasuke asked, taking a bite of his food.

Tenten sighed, "Okay, fine, Lee is a bit trickier but I don't want him to have to choose anyway, so it's just as well. That's the problem with all my friends, really. Everyone will have to choose a side and I don't want that to happen."

Hinata unglued herself from Naruto to finish her own lunch, and for the rest of the period they had a good time laughing at Naruto and Kiba's antics. But Tenten couldn't help her gaze turning towards Neji and Ino every now and then – she was surprised to note that, though Ino practically sat in Neji's lap, he never touched her, and barely spoke to her at all.

* * *

"Why is Tenten sitting with Sasuke?" Sakura asked in confusion, dropping her books on to the table next to Sai. She'd been a bit late to lunch, and so she'd missed the awkward moment when Neji had practically ordered Ino to sit next to him, quickly followed by Tenten and Sasuke's entrance.

Temari sighed, and glared daggers at Neji and Ino. Ino flinched but Neji glared back, "If you hate it so much why didn't _you _stop her from sitting with Uchiha?" he snarled at Temari. She opened her mouth to retort, but Shikamaru grabbed her, and placing a finger on her lips, he said softly, "Drop it, Mari, please." Reluctantly, Temari subsided and sulkily began to eat her lunch.

"Ookaaayyy," Sakura sighed, glancing from one to the other, "I missed something there, wanna fill me in?" she directed the question at Ino, but her long-time friend merely shook her head looking uncomfortable as she shot another hesitant glance at Temari.

"Well, as I understand it, Tenten is now with Sasuke, because she is angry at Neji for screwing Ino at Kiba's party on Friday – and no one here is particularly fond of Sasuke, so now everyone is angry at Tenten, too." Sai answered his girlfriend in his usual blunt manner, completely oblivious to Ino's loud gasp, Lee's soft groan, Temari's snarl, and Neji's quickened breathing as he clenched his fists on top of the table. Shikamaru and Chouji shared a glance before the latter spoke up, since Shikamaru was occupied in holding Temari back, "I don't think Tenten and Sasuke are actually _dating_-"

Sai interrupted him happily, "No, I'm pretty sure that they are – I have second period PE with Uchiha and the guys in the locker room were congratulating him on 'cracking the ice princess'. Of course, _we_ all know that the reason she's never been interested in anyone was because she liked Neji, but I thought it best to not tell them that. Anyway, he just smirked - didn't deny it at all."

Sakura groaned as she stared at Sai in utter consternation. He glanced at the chaos he'd caused in surprise. "What's wrong with them?" he asked Sakura, as he looked from Lee who was trying to hold Neji back as the latter swore in one long string of words – the only things that made sense in the entire sentence being 'Uchiha' and 'kill' - to Shikamaru holding Temari back as she hissed like an angry cat, to Chouji who was holding Ino to stop her lunges from reaching Sai.

"Thanks," she said faintly, and finally everyone calmed down, but the rest of the lunch period was spent in a tense silence, and Sakura couldn't help but glance over at Sasuke and Tenten every now and again – they looked like they were having fun, laughing at Naruto and Kiba - and she felt a fleeting stab of pain as she remembered what it had been like – when they'd all been one happy group of friends, before Sasuke's leaving had changed everything.

Sometimes she couldn't help but miss Naruto's cheery chatter, and Hinata's defection in favor of her boyfriend had been a blow - she couldn't deny that - and shortly after _that_ Shino and Kiba had followed - both of them were better friends with Hinata and Naruto than they were with the others, but at the same time she didn't blame them in the slightest. Sasuke had come back, and she'd told him to get lost and that had been _her_ choice. The next day Naruto had given her an apologetic shrug from across the lunch room when he placed his tray down next to Sasuke's, his gesture clearly saying 'sorry, but he needs me more than you do', and that had been _his _choice.

Those choices had been the first chinks in what had, up until then, been a flawless friendship between all of them who had grown up together, and now it seemed that Neji and Tenten's choices were only widening the gap. _Where will it end? _Sakura wondered, firmly forcing herself not to check whether Sasuke was holding Tenten's hand.


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews/alerts/favorites - I really enjoyed receiving them! I must admit, I'm enjoying this story very much so far and I hope you are too! There were some questions in the reviews - regarding NejiIno and SasuTen, this chapter should answer some of that, on the NejiIno front at least! This chapter is more about Tenten and Sasuke and what's going on with them - but I promise that the next chapter will see some Neji POV as well as some Sasuke and Sakura POV. Anyway, let me know what you thought - pleeeaaassseee review!  
Warning: Lots of OOC-ness and a tiny little splash of lime ahead!**_

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto_**

* * *

_**Chapter 3**_

Tenten was shocked to discover that nearly three months had passed since the fateful evening that had changed so much. They entered November, and the winds became colder, in the mornings the ground was hard with frost, and she saw more and more of Sasuke and less and less of anyone else.

Even Temari had withdrawn slightly – they had made an arrangement to meet once a week for brunch since it was impossible to get Shikamaru up before noon on a Saturday anyway – but it wasn't the same. Thankfully, Lee had thawed slightly, and though he'd made it very clear that he did not approve of Tenten's choice in boyfriends, she was making progress in convincing him that she and Sasuke weren't dating, and the more Lee started to believe her earnest declarations, the warmer his attitude towards her became. If they weren't quite as close as before, it had more to do with the absence of Neji in their dynamic, than it did with Tenten befriending Sasuke. Time had even changed Neji's reactions – he'd gone from ignoring Tenten and glaring at Sasuke at every opportunity, to ignoring Sasuke and glaring at Tenten every chance he got. Tenten felt that this was miraculous progress indeed.

She glanced at Sasuke who was sprawled on the couch next to her, it was a blustery Saturday afternoon, the sky was dark and threatening, and they'd decided to simply stay inside and watch DVD's instead of braving the cold. Sasuke shifted slightly, his eyes still fixed on the screen, one hand distractedly winding a lock of her hair around and around his fingers.

Now she thought about it, no wonder no one would believe they weren't together. What had started as Sasuke's campaign to get her the happy ending he thought she should have, had quickly become habit. After about a month of doing small, boyfriend-like things for her every time Neji was in the vicinity, Tenten had finally told him to just stop trying – it was a nice thought on his part but it clearly wasn't going to work, and it was best that she put Neji behind her anyway. Sasuke had agreed but, by then, they'd been so used to it that the status quo hadn't really changed. Sasuke still picked her up for school and dropped her off in the afternoons, more often than not staying so they could do their homework together. He still carried her books unless she insisted otherwise, and the physical closeness that had been forced in the beginning became a natural part of their friendship.

Even her parents were so used to him by now that he wasn't invited over anymore – he was expected to be there. On the odd occasion that he'd gone to have dinner with his brother, her mother had looked surprised when she'd realized that Sasuke _didn't_ actually live with them. In the beginning her mother had felt so sorry for Sasuke, since he was an orphan, and his brother worked horrendous hours keeping the family's multi-national corporation running, that she'd immediately set about making him feel at home. So now, here they were, with Sasuke more at home in her house than he was in his own.

Slowly Tenten contemplated the course her life had taken in the last few months – if she was totally honest with herself she still missed her friends – no matter how much Sasuke had filled the gaps left by Neji and Lee, it wasn't quite the same. And she still hated how, if she caught Neji unawares and he momentarily forgot about being angry at her, her heart would skip a beat when he flashed her his familiar smirk. She quickly turned her thoughts away from that particular topic – she really needed to remember that Neji would never be hers, and that it was best to simply see him in the light of friendship.

She'd been so surprised to discover that, beneath the bad boy smolder, there lurked a caring person that for the first few weeks she'd been totally caught up in getting to really_ know_ Sasuke. Sure, he could be cruel and sarcastic, but that stemmed mainly from his mocking sense of humor, and the underlying anger at all that had happened in the past. She'd quickly come to realize that Sasuke had never gotten over his parents' deaths, and that he _really _didn't like his brother that much. So, those were topics they generally avoided, but the biggest shock of all had been the discovery that Sasuke was actually quite introverted – he'd had no idea of how to respond to the attention he'd begun to receive once they'd hit puberty, so he'd simply ignored the girls, and, much to his dismay, that had just attracted them all the more. Eventually, what had started as self-defense had turned into habit and the aloofness had just become a part of his personality, but when he was comfortable with people, when he trusted them (not that Sasuke trusted easily), he could be a lot of fun, his wit was sharp and dry, his conversation intelligent and all in all, despite his arrogance, and the way he sometimes drove her up the wall with his simultaneous superiority-inferiority complex, she thanked her lucky stars that she'd had Sasuke to help her through the difficult times. She refused to contemplate the thought that maybe she liked him so much because he reminded her of Neji, a little.

Without lifting his eyes from the screen Sasuke said, "Is there any particular reason you're watching me instead of the movie?" Tenten blushed, and quickly turned back to the TV, "No, just thinking." She shifted a little, trying to get comfortable, and when a pair of strong hands took a hold of her hips, she froze. "Stop squirming, and lie down," Sasuke commanded, still not looking at her as he guided her to lie on his chest. Once she was settled, he lifted his hands from her hips and wrapped his arms around her. "Better?" he asked, and Tenten only nodded, fighting to keep from tensing up as she rested her head against his shoulder and stared blankly at the screen. This was a first - Sasuke holding her. _Holding _her, and she had no idea how she was supposed to respond – she couldn't quite stop her heartbeat increasing at the feel of his solid form beneath her but she didn't want him to think that anything was wrong by being tense. After all, they touched all the time – maybe not quite this intimately but still … she didn't want to ruin another friendship because of hormones!

When he paid her absolutely no mind, his attention riveted on the movie, she finally began to relax. Soon she lay in almost a stupor – the warmth of his body banishing the cold, and when his hands slipped down her waist, and under her hooded sweatshirt to trace absentminded patterns on the small of her back, she never even gave it a thought – merely leaned into the touch, arching her back like a cat being petted.

* * *

Through the fog Tenten could hear someone calling her name softly. _Leave me alone _she thought, she had no desire to wake up, she was warm and comfortable, and Sasuke smelled _really _good – which was _nothing _compared to how he _felt_, and … wait._ What?! _Tenten's eyes flew open.

Sasuke was leaning over her, a slight smirk on his face, and an odd look in his eyes – a look that, for some reason, had her heart-rate speeding up. She swallowed nervously, licked her lips, and tried to think of something to say to break the strange tension in the air.

Her tongue slipped out to wet her lips and Sasuke nearly groaned. Okay, so fine, they were friends but he defied any male to be in his position – with a pretty girl half under him – and _not _be affected. He had teenage hormones to contend with just the same as anyone – control only got him so far … and, to be honest, he had been wondering lately…

He leaned closer, his lips coming within an inch of hers, and Tenten could almost hear her heart it was pounding so loudly. She stared at Sasuke in confusion, but his gaze was unreadable, and just before his lips touched hers he paused – and Tenten didn't know if she should be happy or sad about that. For an interminable moment they stared at each other, then Sasuke sighed, and his breath brushed her mouth lightly when he whispered, "I've been wondering…."

The sentence trailed off as their lips met, hesitantly at first, but when Sasuke realized that she wasn't pushing him away, he let his tongue slide along her lower lip, asking for entrance. Tenten opened her mouth instinctively, and when his tongue slid along hers she couldn't stop the small moan that escaped from the back of her throat.

As if the sound had been the signal Sasuke was waiting for, he deepened the kiss and buried a hand in her hair, lifting her head slightly so he had better access to her mouth. Tenten's thoughts whirled in a chaotic mess. She was _kissing_ Sasuke. Kissing_ Sasuke_ and she really should stop, but her body had other ideas, and she moved one hand up between them to fist in his shirt, while the other trailed up his arm to wind around his neck, holding him close. The kiss dragged on and on as the thoughts spun crazily before fading away, until there was only Sasuke - his mouth on hers, and his hand trailing slowly down her side to slip under her shirt, his fingers stroking softly along her ribcage…

"Tenten!" her mother's loud voice broke through the haze of pleasure, and abruptly Sasuke's mouth was gone, his body lifted from hers, as he quickly put some distance between them. "Hmm?" Tenten replied vaguely, still caught up in the feelings her first kiss had aroused. "Tenten!" her mother's scandalized tone didn't go unnoticed this time, however, and Tenten crashed back to reality with a little start. _Damnit, _she groaned inwardly, _when did they get back – I didn't hear the car! _She turned hesitantly to face her mother.

Her parents were framed in the doorway – and that was bad - but the worst part was the fact that, just behind her parents, stood Lee, Temari and Neji. Tenten could feel the color flooding her cheeks with a vengeance – she was sure she was glowing from the blush that spread slowly across her face.

"Tenten, please show your friends out and then join us in the kitchen," her father's voice was low and serious, and Tenten couldn't help but cringe as she thought of what was coming. She quickly scrambled to her feet, and nodded as her parents left.

"Nothing between you, huh?" Lee said, finally, and Tenten cringed again, but before she could begin to explain, he turned, "Come on, Neji, I'm going – you were right after all, we're wasting our time here." Neji simply stared at Tenten for a moment longer, inexplicable emotions darkening his eyes, before he shook his head and followed after Lee.

Temari groaned, "Great, you guys couldn't contain yourselves for a day longer? Do you know how long it took me to convince Lee that you really _were_ just friends, and that Neji should just come and apologize to you so everything can go back to normal? And do you have _any _idea how difficult it was to convince Neji to come here today?" She threw her hands up into the air, and stomped after the other two.

Tenten stared after her friends in horror – they'd been trying to make everything right and she'd ruined it because Sasuke _smelled _nice! She jumped when Sasuke put a hand on her shoulder, "I guess I should go now – don't worry everything will work out," he added softly, when she continued to look half-panicked, half-confused.

She nodded and slowly walked him to the door, wondering how on earth her nice, normal Saturday had turned into this. Just to compound her confusion, Sasuke stooped to give her a quick, light kiss –she did not feel a thrill at the touch of his lips, she did _not_, damnit - and left without another word. Tenten closed the door softly behind her before gathering her courage to face her parents.

* * *

Tenten hesitated in the doorway of the kitchen, and sighed with relief when she saw only her mother waiting for her. "Sit," her mother indicated the chair across from her, where a cup of hot chocolate was already waiting.

Tenten sat, and her mother gave her a small smile when she saw Tenten glancing hesitantly around the room, "We've decided that your dad will be sitting this one out." Tenten couldn't help her shoulders slumping a little in relief, and she reached for her cup of hot chocolate with renewed courage.

"Tenny," her mother started slowly, "I'm not angry at you, and I'm not going to yell at you or ground you or anything like that. Being attracted to someone isn't a crime, but you're very young and you need to be entirely sure that you're ready for such a big step." Tenten blushed and her mother laughed a little before continuing. "Sex has many repercussions that you're not necessarily equipped to deal with yet. But let's be honest about it, there's no way that I can stop you if that's what you've decided to do. Still, you need to be responsible about this-"

At this point Tenten couldn't take anymore, it felt like her face was on fire, "Mom, I'm not sleeping with Sasuke. And I'm not planning to, either!" she interrupted. Her mother's eyebrows rose, "Really," she said, dryly. "Really," Tenten nodded emphatically, "we're just friends."

Her mother grinned, "Care to explain why your _friend_ had his tongue in your mouth and his hand up your shirt, then?" Tenten nearly fell off her chair, "Mom!" she ducked down and buried her face in her hands, but her mother only laughed and reached over to pat her head, "I've had 'friends' like that in my life, Tenten, and I remember how it felt, but I need you to please be serious for a moment – if you can engage in adult activities then you can surely conduct a reasonable conversation?"

Slowly, Tenten lifted her head, "Fine. I'm not sleeping with Sasuke, or anyone else, and I'm not planning to in the near future, but, I promise that, if I should have sex with anyone, I'll be careful." Her mother sighed, "Thank you for that, at least, but I want you to be very sure that it's the right decision for you, too. Don't let anyone pressure you into anything you're not ready for." She pushed her chair back, "Now, I'm sure you're about to die, so let's just leave it at that. Please just remember that you can talk to me anytime about anything – come to me and we'll get you protection if it comes to that, rather than hide it, and then present me with grandchildren before either of us are ready for them."

Tenten nodded as mortification froze her in place, but her mother leaned down and whispered softly, "We'll just let your dad think I gave you a really harsh lecture and forbade you from ever going near a boy again, okay?" Tenten finally relaxed and she couldn't help but laugh, impulsively she reached out and squeezed her mother's hand. "Thanks for being such a great mother," she said sincerely.

* * *

"Okay, so how on earth did you wind up making out with Sasuke?" Temari demanded. Tenten sighed, was it really necessary that she rehash all the details before she'd even figured out what it meant? But as usual Temari wouldn't be deterred.

After The Talk, Tenten had left for Temari's house as soon as she'd reasonably established that everything was okay between her and her parents, and that her dad wasn't going to kill Sasuke the next time he saw him – if that should ever happen again, because, at this point, she really wasn't sure if _she_ wanted to see Sasuke ever again.

They'd just settled down in Temari's living room when the doorbell rang, and Tenten couldn't help being thankful that she had a slight reprieve to get her thoughts in order – she had no idea how they had wound up kissing, and she had even less of an idea what that meant. She looked up when she felt eyes on her and froze when she saw Ino and Sakura hovering in the doorway, clearly unsure of whether they would be welcome in her presence.

"Hi," Tenten said quietly, all the fights were beginning to wear on her, and she really didn't want to fight with anyone anymore. "Hi," Sakura said, pushing Ino into the room. Temari followed, and shot Tenten an apologetic glance.

Everyone made themselves comfortable but the rush of activity did nothing to diminish the palpable tension that hung over the room. Tenten was staring at the floor, too worried at the moment about her and Sasuke to really focus on her anger at Ino.

"I'm really, really sorry, okay?" Ino's loud voice suddenly broke the silence – she was wringing her hands in an almost Hinata-ish manner, her big blue eyes turned pleadingly onto Tenten. "I don't know what I was thinking – I guess I just wasn't, but please let me explain?" Slowly, Tenten nodded, they had to get this over with sometime, right?

Ino took a deep breath and stared at her shoes, "I wasn't drunk – or at least, not drunk enough for that to be an excuse, but I wasn't totally sober, either. I was just coming back from the bathroom, and there were a bunch of idiots who'd decided to play 7 minutes in heaven. I couldn't pass by them, because they blocked the hallway, so I just waited and the next thing I knew Neji was there, too. Probably also just back from the bathroom. We just stood around talking while we waited for a gap to open up so we could pass through – they were yelling so loudly that it didn't help to try and ask them to move - and then someone grabbed me and pushed me into the closet with Neji," Ino winced, "and that's the point where it all becomes a lot less innocent – but neither of us were totally sober and it just seemed like a good idea at the time, you know? Anyway, when we got out, Neji and I went into the bedroom, I think that's the point where you saw us, but, we _didn't_ have sex, I _swear_." Her eyes were fixed on Tenten's earnestly, and, somehow, Tenten couldn't help but feel the other girl was telling the truth.

Temari snorted, "Yeah, right. What were you doing in there, then? Having a deep philosophical discussion?" Ino winced again, "Fair enough, I know it doesn't sound very believable, but we really didn't – things got a little … heated, but it never went that far - and then Sakura came looking for me and I left."

Sakura nodded her agreement, "I can't say what happened in the bedroom, but Ino had been gone for about half and hour, and so I went looking for her. I'd barely knocked at the door and called her name to see if she was in there before she opened the door and came out – fully dressed. Disheveled but fully dressed." She stared intently at Tenten who was staring at Ino with a small frown on her face.

After a long silence Tenten finally spoke up, "It's okay, Ino. To be honest, I was never really that angry at you to begin with – and it's not so much about whether you slept with Neji or not – it's the fact that he would want someone who wasn't me," she admitted with painful honesty. Temari got up from her perch on the armchair and gave Tenten a quick hug before curling up next to her on the couch.

Ino smiled hesitantly at Tenten, looking relieved when Tenten returned the smile. Sakura sighed, "Are we all okay with each other then?" she asked the room at large. All four nodded eagerly – this was the longest fight they'd ever had – and everyone relaxed noticeably.

Tenten cleared her throat, "Since we're on the topic of confessions, I may as well tell you and get it out of the way before you get the garbled version from Temari, or the _seriously _garbled version via the grapevine."

Temari shot her a reproving look, "I really doubt that Neji or Lee will say anything to anyone," she pointed out, "and I know what I saw. No need to embellish – the facts are damning enough on their own." Tenten blushed, and before she could decide how to go about telling the other two Temari had spoken up again.

"Let me tell it – since I have to explain how we wound up witnessing … that. And then you can correct me wherever you felt I went wrong." Without waiting for her friend's agreement, she launched into the tale, "Okay, so you know how I've been trying to convince Lee that Tenten and Sasuke are only friends? I finally managed it, and we spent the last couple of days convincing Neji that if he would only apologize to Tenten then everything could go back to the way it used to be. Neji eventually caved when Lee pointed out that, if he apologized, there wouldn't be a reason for Tenten to spend so much time with Sasuke, anymore. And they're both obviously in favor of anything that gets her away from Sasuke. So, the three of us headed over to Tenten's house earlier this afternoon. Just outside we ran into her parents, and all of us went into the house together– and Tenten's mom remarked that it was weird how quiet it was since Tenten and Sasuke had been watching movies when they left. We all went into the living room, only to see Tenten and Sasuke tangled together on the couch." She took a deep breath, which gave Ino and Sakura the chance to gasp and stare at Tenten. "But you said there wasn't anything between you!" Sakura pointed an accusing finger at Tenten, "Why lie about it?"

Tenten blushed, but before she could defend herself Temari continued the tale, "Whoa, just let me finish before we attack! So, anyway, they were on the couch, making out like they've been starved of each other – Sasuke pretty much on top of our dear, virginal little Tenny here, with his hand up her shirt, no less!" Temari gave Tenten a wicked grin, "I'm actually so proud – if only it wasn't _Sasuke," _she muttered to herself.

"Temari!" Tenten wailed, "You're making it sound all … torrid - and it really wasn't! Look, we were watching movies and I fell asleep-"

"On top of Sasuke?" Temari interjected with arched brows.

"Okay, fine! On top of Sasuke – but it was totally innocent! Then the movie finished and he woke me up and the next thing I knew we were kissing. And his hand was on my stomach, thank you very much! So stop making it sound as if we were on the point of ripping each other's clothes off!" she glared at Temari who only laughed, "Oh, Tenny, sometimes you really crack me up – it may have been just an innocent, unexpected kiss to you – but somehow I really doubt that the same could be said of Sasuke – he was totally angling for more. If you'd seen the scene from my perspective you would agree – there was just so much … passion there, and while I am not a huge fan, I am completely willing to admit that Sasuke is definitely not the kind of guy you're sorry to catch in that position – he's the kind where you're kind of going 'damn I wish that were me' when you see him kissing someone – but that's beside the point. The point _is_ you don't have to make it less than it was – who can blame you for returning a kiss when a hot guy grabs you?"

They all burst out laughing, and when they'd calmed down Sakura ventured, "And Neji and Lee saw this?" Tenten and Temari sighed. A long silence followed, and when Ino opened her mouth with a determined look on her face they all stared at her expectantly, but she only closed her mouth again, shaking her head, "It's not important," she said quietly.

* * *

Tenten overslept badly on Monday morning and by the time she rushed into the school building, she'd given up on making it in time for homeroom, so she just headed for her second period class – she would be early but it was better than having to explain her tardiness.

Sunday had been spent in begging Lee to give her a chance to explain that she _hadn't _been lying to him all the time – that, up until the kiss he'd witnessed, nothing had happened between her and Sasuke. When Lee had finally relented, she'd gathered all her courage and called Sasuke, but he'd acted as if nothing had happened, and her courage hadn't been up to confronting him about it, so she'd simply pretended to have a dentist appointment the next morning, and told him not to pick her up – she couldn't face him yet. Not when she didn't know what she was feeling.

Tenten sighed in relief when she entered the blissfully empty classroom, and made her way to her seat. She'd just slumped down, when the door opened and Neji walked in, so intent on his cell phone screen that he didn't notice her until he looked up to get his bearings and their eyes collided.

His mouth twisted and he immediately turned to leave, but Tenten called after him, "Wait, Neji, please?" He stopped at the door, but he didn't turn around as he said over his shoulder, "What, Tenten?"

She gulped but decided to soldier on regardless, she was just _so _tired of fighting – and she missed Neji, missed the way he had of always making her feel like she could accomplish anything if she set her mind to it. "I'm really sorry about Saturday," she said quietly.

Neji snorted, "Are you? Well, don't worry about it – it's nothing to me what you and Uchiha get up to." Tenten sighed, clearly reaching a peaceful resolution wasn't going to be easy. "I'm still sorry – I know that you're not that happy with Sasuke being in my life." Instinctively she recognized that Neji would be a lot harder to appease than Lee or Temari had been, and so she didn't even try to explain her – relative – innocence.

He was quiet for a long time, and the longer the silence dragged on, the harder her heart pounded in her chest. Just when Tenten was sure that her heart couldn't take any more, he turned slightly. "You know what really gets me? How you can be angry at me one second, but then go right out and do the same thing – and then it's okay!" Tenten gaped at him in astonishment – she'd never seen Neji so worked up.

"And I guess the worst thing is that I really expected better from you. You used to have standards. But Sasuke notices you, and suddenly you're _that _easy? What's so special about Uchiha, anyway?" he ran an agitated hand through his long hair. "You know what - nevermind – it's none of my business. If you want to become his plaything then that's up to you – just don't come running to me for sympathy when he's tired of you, and you're left with nothing but a reputation of being one of his sluts." Without looking at her again, he slammed out of the room, and Tenten just continued staring at the space where he'd been. "It really isn't like that," she whispered to the closed door.

* * *

For the rest of the morning Tenten walked about in a daze, but gradually the anger began simmering. How dared Neji? Just who did he think he was? Where did he get off calling _her _a slut when he was, quite blatantly, no better? How she wished she'd had the chance to tell him that despite his posturing, despite the moral high ground he was trying to take, Sasuke treated her with more respect than _he_ did.

By lunch time, the anger had become full-blown rage, and she stalked into the cafeteria, only to see Neji sitting with yet _another _girl practically in his lap. Who the girl was Tenten had no idea – she looked vaguely familiar, and Tenten thought that she might well be an underclassman - but the rage overpowered the pain that stabbed at her heart when Neji glared at her, as if challenging her to say something. She saw red, and the only thought running through her mind was: _Slut?! I'll give you slutty, you bastard!_

She walked straight over to her usual table – everyone was already there – and grabbed Sasuke by the front of his shirt, drawing him closer in one swift movement, and kissed him soundly. Tongue and all. She ignored the wolf-whistles and the shocked stares as she casually took her seat and grabbed an apple from her bag.

"Okay, what was that for?" Sasuke asked in an undertone. Tenten shook her head, already she regretted the impulsive action, but she'd just been so damn _angry. _"Later," she whispered back, before turning to Hinata and brightly asking her about her weekend.

* * *

Tenten thought long and hard throughout the rest of the day, and while classes were perhaps not the most conducive of places for soul-searching, she finally managed to make up her mind. Neji clearly hated her now, whether that was unfair or not was beside the point. Sadly, she'd admitted to herself that, Ino notwithstanding, a part of her had still been hoping that maybe Neji would see the light and somehow, miraculously, decide that he wanted to be with her after all. That was obviously _not _going to happen, so why was she still sitting around pining after him?

Then there was Sasuke. He'd been a good friend, and she couldn't deny that there was some kind of attraction between them, but was he really what she wanted? Finally, she'd come to the conclusion that she wouldn't be able to say for sure if there was anything to be had with Sasuke unless she gave it a chance. Whereas Neji was a lost cause and so she'd decided to do the sensible thing – move on and try to forget about him. Neji-of-the-past, the one who had actually spoken to her – who had _liked _her – wasn't going to come back, and after his hurtful words she really couldn't see any way for them to ever reconcile their differences. Sasuke, on the other hand, clearly liked her a lot.

The last bell rang and she made her way slowly to the parking lot. Sasuke was already in his car, listening to music while he waited for her, and she got into the passenger seat with outward composure even while the butterflies were wreaking havoc in her stomach. Before Sasuke could say anything she leaned over and kissed him lightly, and his mouth instinctively opened under hers before he caught himself.

He drew away and cleared his throat, "Don't do that, Tenten," he stared at her seriously, "don't use me like that – I'm more than willing to help you make Hyuuga jealous, if you've suddenly decided to go that route again, but there are lines that shouldn't be crossed."

Tenten smiled slightly and shook her head, "Look around," she said softly, "No Hyuuga in sight. I kissed you because I wanted to, not for any other reason."

His hands clenched around the steering wheel as he eyed her uncertainly, "And that means what, exactly?" Tenten sighed and leaned her head against the seat, "You tell me," she laughed softly, "I don't know what this is. I just know that I've been thinking long and hard about everything, and I'm still just as confused, but I have gained clarity about one thing – I like kissing you - a lot." She smiled shyly, but couldn't hold his gaze.

Silently Sasuke started the car, and just when Tenten thought that he wasn't going to respond, he reached over and took her hand, entwining their fingers. Tenten's eyes flew to his, and Sasuke smirked at her, "I liked kissing you a lot, too," he said quietly, before turning his eyes back to the road.

* * *

**_A/N: *peeks at readers from between her fingers* Don't hate me! I know that mean Neji was way out of line - but please bear in mind that he was lashing out and we will definitely still be seeing things from his perspective - also, for the purposes of this fic, Sasuke and Tenten have to get together, but don't worry ... the eventual pairings are still NejiTen and SasuSaku._**


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who read/reviewed/alerted/favorited this fic. As promised we see a bit more of Sasuke, Sakura and Neji's feelings in this chapter - I hope it answers any questions you may have had regarding their relationships! Warning: OOC-ness (yet again) and a bit of lime. PLEASE review - it keeps me excited about writing the story ^_^**_

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto_**

_**Chapter 4**_

Neji glared straight ahead as he turned into the school parking lot and caught sight of Tenten and Sasuke leaning against the latter's car. Why was it that whenever he turned around, he was confronted with the sight of Tenten with Sasuke's tongue down her throat? In the last months – since that disastrous conversation when he had called her a slut – it seemed as if they were everywhere he went.

The moment he'd seen Tenten walking over to Sasuke – and kissing him passionately – in the cafeteria after their final fight, he'd realized that maybe he'd made a mistake – driven her too far. Truth be told, he'd regretted his harsh words the moment he'd uttered them, but he'd been feeling far too angry – too betrayed – to calm down enough to tell her that he was sorry. Although, why he'd felt so betrayed was beyond him – he had no claim on her, no real _reason _to be angry. But logic had done nothing to still the jealousy raging through him, and by the next morning he had been fully prepared to swallow his pride and apologize. Only, when he'd gone to Tenten's locker, Sasuke had already been there with her, their mouths fused together as if they never intended to let go, and, through the rising nausea, Neji had turned to leave without even trying to speak to Tenten – there was no way that he was about to apologize in front Sasuke.

He was _still_ more than willing to apologize – anything to get her away from Sasuke – but the opportunity never arose – it seemed that Tenten regarded any minute _not_ spent kissing Sasuke as a minute wasted, and so the state of affairs had dragged on. Everyone had made peace with the fact that Tenten and Sasuke was an item – even Lee had finally been forced to back down when it became apparent that Sasuke wasn't just using Tenten, and that she was obviously more than happy to allow him to kiss her … touch her … damnit, he was not going down that road again! It was bad enough that he had to watch them sucking face on a daily basis – he was _not_ going to imagine the Uchiha running his hands all over her whenever he felt like it!

He tightened his grip on the steering-wheel, his knuckles turning white and nearly jumped through the roof when Hinata spoke up from the passenger seat – he'd forgotten she was in the car with him. "You know, there's no reason to be angry at Tenten – really, Sasuke isn't _that_ bad, and he seems to be making her happy – isn't that what's important?"

Neji refused to look at his cousin, because he might well be driven to violence if he had to hear one more word about how _happy _Tenten was with Sasuke. "You like Uchiha so much, why don't you get a ride with _him_ in future?" he snarled, and from the corner of his eye he could see Hinata's blush as she sank down in her seat – but, thankfully, she kept her peace. He parked as quickly as he was able, and, without looking in Tenten's direction again, he headed for the school building before he gave in to the violent urges that he was just barely managing to suppress.

* * *

Sasuke groaned against Tenten's skin when her hands slipped under his shirt to trace lightly along the lines of his stomach. She arched her neck back to allow him better access and her slight moan did all sorts of interesting things to his body.

Really, he couldn't for the life of him think why he'd never wanted a girlfriend before. The commitment hadn't been so bad, not when it was weighed against the benefits – being able to kiss her, touch her, whenever he liked, without having to go through the whole flirtation process. Also, he had to admit, it was nice to have someone who was bound to you by more than just ties of friendship. All in all, Sasuke was quite glad that he'd made the decision to take a chance when Tenten had kissed him that day in the parking lot. Maybe it hadn't totally banished Sakura from his mind, but it was slowly getting better – he was nearly at the point where he didn't feel the insane urge to kill Sai whenever he went near Sakura.

He slowly backed Tenten up against the wall of the deserted auditorium. He'd taken his chance when he'd seen the slightly ajar door, pulling her swiftly into the dimly lit room after him. It had been _far _too long since he'd last kissed her – he cursed fate that had made sure they didn't have any classes together – and, since they had a few minutes of lunch left, he'd decided to take advantage of the empty room, and store up the taste of her for the long afternoon that lay ahead.

"W-we're … going … to ... be … late," Tenten murmured between kisses. Sasuke trailed one hand down her side, lifting her thigh, and wrapped it firmly around his hip so their bodies pressed closely against each other. "Don't care," he whispered against her lips, rocking his hips forward slightly to push her harder against the wall.

Tenten gasped, her head falling back, and he could see the blush spreading across her cheeks as she shoved half-heartedly against his chest. "Sasuke," his name was a breathy moan, and he ground his hips against hers in reaction, "s-stop … what are you doing?"

He sighed, and buried his face in the crook of her neck, but he didn't let up the on the pressure of his body against hers, and he didn't let go of the leg he was keeping wrapped around him – instead he slowly pushed the material of her knee-length skirt upward, kneading the silky flesh as he went, until his hand rested on her nearly bared hip "Come on, Ten, relax," he bit back a moan when she squirmed a little, "doesn't this feel good?" He drew back and deliberately rocked his hips against her again, staring intently into her eyes.

Tenten couldn't quite hide the effect his movements had on her, her eyes darkening with passion, and her hips involuntarily pushing back against his. "That's … not … the point," she huffed, pushing at his shoulders again.

The bell rang but they both ignored it as the silent battle of wills continued. Finally, Sasuke sighed, and released her thigh and Tenten took a shuddering breath, her hands still on Sasuke's shoulders. Slowly he leaned forward and kissed her gently, his hands stroking soothingly along her back, "Sorry," he whispered, leaning his forehead against hers, "just got a little carried away – no pressure, I promise."

Tenten smiled up at him, and he was relieved to note that there was no hesitation in the gesture, no anger in her eyes, "I know – me too. Don't worry about it." She quickly wiggled out of his arms, and headed to the door. She reached out to grasp the doorknob, but quickly pulled her hand back, and turned slightly to look at him over her shoulder, "Sasuke?"

"Hm?" he asked, he was still leaning against the wall, watching the sway of her hips and trying to take control back from his excited body. She gave him a mischievous grin, "It _did _feel good." Then she was gone, and Sasuke groaned as he ran a hand over his face, and slumped a little more against the wall. Great, now he was stuck here, there was no way he was going to be able to keep his mind out of the gutter - and, therefore, no way he would be able to calm his body - in time to make it to class, not after _that _little comment.

* * *

Tenten rushed into class, only five minutes late, and blushed bright red when Gai gave her a _very _disapproving frown after her rushed apology. She was late but not _that _late, she thought, disgruntled, as she dropped down into her seat, thankful to finally be able to sit down - her knees were still trembling.

She smiled at Temari next to her but the other girl merely gave her a disbelieving stare, shook her head and quickly bent to write something on a piece of paper. Tenten had just gotten settled when a folded square landed on her book, and she quickly swept it under the table so that Gai didn't see – apparently he was in quite a bad mood today and she didn't want to push her luck.

She carefully unfolded the note Temari had tossed at her and quickly read: _So, things get a little hot and heavy with Sasuke just now? _Tenten blushed, was she that obvious? She scribbled her reply, _What makes you say that? And what's up with Gai today? I was barely five minutes late – no need for him to glare at me like that!_ Temari shot her an incredulous look and when Tenten read the reply she nearly fell off her chair. _Hmm, clearly you haven't been near a mirror since leaving Sasuke. I hate to break it to you, but it's fairly obvious what you've been doing since you have a rather large hickey on your neck – hence Gai's disapproval. Maybe tell Sasuke to avoid your neck if he's so intent on marking you – there are easier places to hide._ Tenten blushed to the roots of her hair as she crumpled the note in one hand. _Damnit, he could've warned me! I'm going to kill him!_

* * *

Sakura stared blankly at the blackboard – far too caught up in her thoughts to pay even the slightest bit of attention to anything Gai was saying. Tenten had rushed in late, and that hadn't been so surprising – Sakura would never admit it, but she was always very aware of exactly what Tenten and Sasuke were doing in the cafeteria at any given time - when they'd left a good half an hour before the bell was due, Sakura had known that Tenten would be late. It wasn't as if the two of them made any secret of the fact that they couldn't keep their hands off each other.

But why would that make her feel slightly … sick? She didn't care what Sasuke did … did she? Sakura shook her head to dispel the ridiculous thoughts – she _didn't_ care. She never would've thought that Tenten would act like this, but, clearly, Sasuke didn't mind since he hadn't so much as glanced at any other girl in the last few months. Inner Sakura laughed nastily - and to think that Tenten had had the audacity to call _Ino _promiscuous! Almost as soon as she'd had the thought, guilt washed over Sakura and she couldn't help giving the back of Tenten's head an apologetic look. _What the hell is wrong with you?! _She screamed at herself – what sort of friend was she? She knew very well that Tenten and Sasuke hadn't slept together … yet (and that thought was totally fair because, really, the way the two of them were carrying on it was only a matter of time), and she should be happy that Tenten had managed to put Neji behind her and found some happiness in the process.

Unconsciously she found herself echoing words Temari frequently tossed around: _if only it wasn't Sasuke_! Firmly, Sakura took a hold of herself – this was _not _the kind of person she wanted to be, she wasn't the type of friend who couldn't be happy for Tenten - no matter _who _Tenten allowed to suck on her neck! Sakura tried to ignore the little voice in the back of her mind that whispered that the real problem was that, whenever she saw Sasuke with Tenten, she couldn't help but wish that she was the one he was kissing.

* * *

"You _have _to do _something_!" Neji jumped back just in time to avoid his locker door as it was slammed shut. He whirled around to face Ino, who was glaring at him, her hand still holding the door closed. His eyebrows rose, "Watch it!" he hissed, but she merely continued glaring at him.

"You've _got_ to tell Tenten how you feel before it's too late," she said, thankfully in a softer tone. Neji's glare slid off his face at her words and he immediately assumed a blank expression. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I know how you feel about her – you think you hide your feelings so well, but you don't! Everything's a mess, and a whole lot of people are going to wind up badly hurt unless you tell her how you feel!" For a long moment Neji simply stared at her, then, with a slight shrug, he turned to walk away, and said over his shoulder, "What do you suggest I do – Tenten has made her choice." He walked away quickly, ignoring the huff of exasperation from behind him.

"Ugh!" Ino made a face at Neji's back – why did he have to be so damn stubborn! It was obvious that he loved Tenten, if only he would admit it.

* * *

"I can't do this anymore," her voice was low, and Sakura was nearly as shocked at her words as Sai was – judging by his expression. It was just a little before the final period of the day, and, since Sai had a free period and Sakura had gotten out of class early, she'd decided to find him in the hope that a little time spent with her boyfriend would banish the strange thoughts and feelings.

"Sorry?" he asked in confusion, and Sakura quickly wiggled out of his embrace. "I'm sorry," she said, not looking at him, she couldn't, "but I just can't. I - I need a break." She finally raised her eyes to his, pleading with him to understand.

"What happened, Sakura?" he asked, and the gentleness of his tone was very nearly her undoing, but she held hard to her decision – she had to do this - it wasn't fair to keep pretending that everything was just perfect when it wasn't. How could it be when Sasuke consumed her every thought? When she caught herself pretending that Sai was Sasuke when he kissed her just now, she'd known that she couldn't avoid this any longer.

She sighed and thought carefully before replying, "I'm sorry, Sai. It's not any particular thing – it's just me. I need some space."

Sai narrowed his eyes, and said slowly, "Why does it sound like you're not really asking for a break, but, in fact, breaking up with me?"

Sakura winced, she should've known that Sai would see straight through the 'it's-not-you-but-me' line, "I-I … I just," she took a deep breath, "I just need to figure some things out."

"Like how you feel about me, for example?" he asked sardonically, and Sakura's head jerked up as the instinctive denial jumped to her lips, "No, that-"

"You either feel a thing – or you don't, Sakura," Sai interrupted, staring at her intently. Sakura stared at her shoes again – god, how she hated having to hurt him, and her mind screamed at her to not do this, but her heart … her heart told her that no matter how badly she felt - how guilty - she couldn't just pretend nothing was wrong anymore.

Slowly, Sakura raised her eyes and met Sai's gaze firmly, "I don't," she whispered.

* * *

Sasuke carefully closed the door of the auditorium behind him, checking both ways to see if the coast was clear. After Tenten had left, he'd resigned himself to spending the rest of the period hiding out, and, in the end, he'd given the entire afternoon up as a bad job. So, he'd simply stayed put, waiting it out – he had the last period free and figured he'd head back to the car to wait for Tenten to finish up.

He'd just rounded the corner of the deserted hallway when a flash of pink caught his eye, and before he could step out of the way Sakura ran smack into him. Instinctively his hands caught her shoulders to steady her and when she raised her eyes to his in shock, he quickly let go. "Sasuke," she said, breathily, and he could feel his entire body tense up – he couldn't remember the last time she'd spoken to him directly.

"Sorry," he muttered, no matter that it had been her fault – she'd been walking with her head down when they'd collided – and quickly stepped around her to be on his way. He nearly didn't stop when she called after him – sure that he must be hearing things. "Sasuke, wait, please."

Sasuke jerked to a halt and turned slowly, uncertainty written on his face, and Sakura swallowed the guilt that rose up to make a lump in her throat – ignored the voice in the back of her head that spoke up, telling her that what she was doing was _wrong_.

"I-I wonder … would it be all right … I mean, can I talk to you?" she asked hesitantly, before she could change her mind – wrong or not she _had_ to know.

* * *

Neji had spent the afternoon deep in thought – no matter how he tried he couldn't seem to get Ino's words out of his head. She seemed to think that he had a chance with Tenten, despite everything that had been said, but did he really want Tenten that way?

It was still the same old story – attraction that he couldn't deny, but fear of ruining everything held him back. _It really can't get any more ruined than it already is. _Neji snorted, as he quickly made his way to the front of the school. He really needed some peace and quiet in which to think, so he'd decided to ditch the last class of the day – it really would be a waste of time in his current state anyway.

He was so deep in thought that he nearly walked straight into Sasuke's back. Instinctively, Neji ducked back around the corner – he really didn't need a close up of Sasuke kissing Tenten – but something nagged at the back of his mind. Frowning, Neji leaned around the corner slightly, just enough to be able to see the couple from the corner of his eye. His eyebrows rose to nearly touch his hairline, because the flash of pink hair that could just be seen over Sasuke's shoulder definitely didn't belong to Tenten. In fact, as far as Neji knew, there was only one person with hair that color. And, last time he checked, she _wasn't _supposed to be kissing Sasuke.

* * *

**_A/N: Mmm ... what will Neji do? Let me know what you think!_**


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who read/reviewed/alerted/favorited this fic. I'm so sorry it took so long to update! I'm having some technical issues with the uploading of my files *growls* Anyway, I know we were all wondering what Neji would do now, but turns out that was the wrong question ... we should've been asking what Sasuke will do, lol. I won't say any more, but I hope that you like the chapter, and pleeeaassee remember to review - I love hearing what you thought! (BTW, I'm not going to bother warning you about the OOC-ness in this chapter, I'm sure you're all aware by now that this fic is nothing but one big OOC party ^_^) **_

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto_**

* * *

**_Chapter 5_**

Sakura was kissing him and Sasuke froze as the desire to drag her closer warred with the image of Tenten his conscience kept injecting into his mind. Every instinct in his body screamed to keep kissing Sakura until the world ended – but his conscience wouldn't be quiet. He realized that his hands were on Sakura's shoulders and quickly gathered his scattered wits before pushing her away.

Holding her at an arm's length Sasuke stared at her in complete disbelief. Sakura's eyes slowly opened to look at him in confusion, and a jolt ran through his entire body when he realized that she'd been just as caught up in the kiss as he had been – had felt the same instinctive recognition of belonging.

Sasuke took a deep breath, let his arms fall, and quickly walked past her before turning to face her again, "I'm nothing like the person you knew before – I grew up - and if you'd ever bothered to hear me out you would've known that. But you didn't, and I'm sorry, Sakura, but I can't do this. I made a promise to Tenten, and I have no intention of breaking that promise," he started backing away slowly, and tried to ignore the hurt that welled up in her emerald green eyes, "I guess it's just … too little, too late." He gave an apologetic shrug of his shoulders, and quickly spun around.

Sakura fought against the tears as she watched Sasuke walking – no, _running_ – away from her. His words kept echoing through her mind – _it's too late, it's too late_ – and she stuffed her fist into her mouth to keep from crying out as she quickly walked in the opposite direction.

* * *

Neji leaned back against the wall, a million frantic thoughts spinning around his mind. Sasuke hadn't initiated the kiss? Sasuke was choosing Tenten, and forsaking all others, as it were? The implications of Sasuke's choice really hit home, and Neji slowly slid down the wall.

All the half-baked plans that had been running through the back of his mind throughout the afternoon were crashing down around his ears. Instinctively he knew that if he were to tell Tenten about the scene he'd witnessed – leaving out the part where Sasuke actually acted honorably of course – she would never believe him. And yet, he had to stop this insanity. Now. Tenten didn't belong with Sasuke – she belonged to _him_.

Neji leaned his head back – he felt like banging it against the floor – why had it come to _this_ before he'd realized how he really felt? He didn't care about the friendship - to be honest, he never had – he'd just been afraid - much as it galled him to admit it. Afraid of letting Tenten in because she had the power to hurt him, but now he knew he didn't want to be her friend - even if it _was_ safer – the only problem was: it didn't seem like Sasuke would be willing to let her go.

* * *

Sasuke fiddled nervously with the volume control on the radio as he waited for Tenten. Time was doing strange things, it seemed to speed up and then slow down as if it had a mind of its own. He'd walked away from Sakura, and a part of him had been proud – proud that he'd been able to resist temptation - that he'd been able to remain faithful – and part of him had been kicking himself.

The part that had its foot planted squarely on his behind just wouldn't leave him be, and for the last hour he'd been worrying about whether his decision had been the right one. In effect, he'd firmly committed himself to Tenten, he'd well and truly burned all his bridges, and he couldn't help but wonder what that _meant_. Did it mean that he loved Tenten?

He just didn't have an answer to that question – there were too many things he doubted. God knew, she never tried to touch him – she responded wonderfully – but she'd never once indicated that she was as frustrated with their level of intimacy as he was … and now he couldn't help but wonder if that was because she was on the rebound, or if she was so busy pretending that he was Neji that she _couldn't_ progress past their current level because then she would have to face up to the fact that he wasn't. Sasuke might be unsure about a lot of things in his life, but one thing he was completely certain of was that he did _not_ intend to be second-best. Ever.

"Hi," Tenten's voice broke through his reverie, and she was barely in the car before Sasuke reached over to cup her head, and drew her into a passionate kiss. He was being paranoid that was all – Sakura had just thrown him for a loop, and he wasn't about to let that spoil the first experience of contentment he'd ever had in his life. He firmly ignored the voice that whispered that contentment wasn't enough.

He drew back and Tenten smiled, "What was that for?" she asked but Sasuke didn't reply as he threw the car into reverse and got the hell out of there. Once he'd put a safe distance between himself and the school he turned to her, and said, "Let's go do our homework at my house. Your house is too loud."

Hesitantly, Tenten nodded, "Okay, I'll just let my mother know." Sasuke kept his eyes fixed on the road, afraid that if he looked at Tenten she would be able to see the confusion in his eyes. He was sure that if he only spent a little time alone with her his equilibrium would restore itself.

They reached his house in record time, and that was one of the many wonderful things about Tenten, she never thought he drove too fast, and why did he keep on telling himself how great she was? Was he trying to convince himself, or was he just trying to keep from thinking about Sakura?

Sasuke grabbed Tenten's hand and led her up the path – she was still intent on her cell phone screen - her mother just wouldn't _stop_ texting, much to Sasuke's frustration. He'd barely locked the door behind them, before he threw his keys in the general direction of the hall table, and in the same motion pushed Tenten up against the wall, ignoring the slight protest that she was still busy composing a reply.

He kissed her with such desperation that it left Tenten breathless and rather weak in the knees, and she forgot about the message she was supposed to be sending, and wound her arms around his neck. She moaned when he pressed her harder against the wall, one leg wrapping around his as she strove to keep her balance, and Sasuke dragged at her lower lip with his teeth as his hands pulled at her clothes.

Her attention was entirely focused on Sasuke's insistent hands, so much so, that it took a while before she registered that her phone was still in her hand – and that it was vibrating to alert her to an incoming call. Sasuke had somehow managed to undo the front-clasp of her bra without her noticing, and when his hands pushed the material away so he could cup her bared breasts in his warm palms, she completely forgot about the phone again.

Sasuke brushed his fingertips lightly across the pebbled tips, reveling in the feel of the silky flesh in his hands, and silently he acknowledged that this was what he needed – what was necessary to help him forget about choices … and Sakura.

Tenten writhed in his arms, and he transferred his mouth to her neck, drawing a moaning sigh from the girl in his arms. "Mmm … ah …. S-Sasuke …" she breathed and lust overtook coherent thought – and he didn't notice when Tenten pushed slightly against his shoulders, wanting to be free. "Mmm …" she moaned again, when Sasuke reached for her hips, pulling her roughly against him. "W-wait … ah … N-Neji."

Sasuke froze.

All the doubts rose back up to haunt him – had he been right after all? _Was _he only a substitute body? She'd definitely moaned "Neji" just now - it hadn't been his imagination. Slowly Sasuke drew back a little to look into Tenten's eyes in shocked disbelief. "What did you just say?" he demanded in a hoarse whisper.

Tenten looked at Sasuke in confusion and unwound one arm from around his neck so that she could show him the cell phone she still held - it had been vibrating insistently for the last five minutes. "Neji," she repeated, "he's been calling again and again."

Sasuke's legs nearly gave way under him in relief – his near brush with total humiliation had completely eradicated the lust that had been pooling low in his stomach, and abruptly, anger stirred to life. No, wait, make that _rage. _He grabbed the phone from Tenten. "What the hell do you want, Hyuuga," he barked, ignoring Tenten's glare.

* * *

Neji ran a frustrated hand through his hair as he paced his bedroom, cell phone pressed against his ear. He'd been trying to call Tenten ever since he'd gotten home, but she wasn't answering. Just when he'd begun to think that maybe something was wrong, the line clicked and Sasuke's voice sounded in his ear, "What the hell do you want, Hyuuga?"

For a moment Neji was totally taken aback – he hadn't expected Sasuke to answer the phone! "Put Tenten on," he snapped back, and he could almost hear the grinding of teeth on the other side of the line.

"No," Sasuke snarled, "She has nothing to say to you." The dial tone buzzed in Neji's ear, and he threw the phone onto his bed. How in the world was he supposed to talk to Tenten when Sasuke never left her alone, and, now, wouldn't even let her answer her own damn phone?

* * *

Sasuke shoved Tenten's phone back at her, and turned to stalk into the living room, completely ignoring her. Slowly, Tenten took a few deep breaths to calm herself, as she fumbled to re-clasp her bra, before following him. In the doorway she paused to watch him, Sasuke was pacing back and forth in an agitated manner, but did not acknowledge her presence in any way.

"Don't _ever_ do that again," Tenten said at last, in a low voice. "The last time I checked, of the two people currently in this room, _I'm _the boss of me. That means you do _not_ get to decide who I want to talk to or not!" she glared at him, but Sasuke didn't stop pacing, though he lifted his head to send a sardonic smirk her way.

He raised his eyebrows mockingly, "The last time I checked, of the two people in this room, you were the least likely to want to talk to Neji ever again – so what changed?"

Tenten's eyes narrowed, "Don't twist my words, you know exactly what I mean – it's my decision whether I talk to him or not. You don't get to decide what I want or don't want – you don't own me!"

For a moment they glared at each other before Sasuke sighed and sank down onto the couch, burying his face in his hands. Slowly, Tenten walked forward to join him, perching stiffly on the edge of her seat. Sasuke took a deep breath, "I'm sorry – I didn't mean to be controlling – I just lost my temper."

He reached over to gently squeeze her hand, and Tenten immediately returned the gesture. This was the first time they'd ever fought about anything, and she didn't like how uncomfortable it was making her feel. "What's really bothering you?" she asked softly.

Surprise jerked Sasuke's head up – and here he'd been thinking he was hiding it so well! "Nothing," he muttered, "it just got to me for a second, all right? I know Hyuuga doesn't usually bother me, but there's only so much a guy can take, you know."

Tenten shook her head slightly, "Don't lie to me. I know you better than that. Neji may have been the catalyst but he's not the cause – did something happen?"

Studiously, Sasuke avoided looking at her – this was what he hated about dating Tenten – she was one of the few people to whom he could actually reveal his feelings, and now he couldn't tell her what was wrong because she was so closely caught up in the entire matter. The guilt gnawed at his conscience again, and Sasuke knew that he wouldn't be able to live like this. Sooner or later Tenten would find out about Sakura. Slowly he raised his eyes to hers, and opened his mouth - allowed the words to flow without check – until, at last, he felt lighter – and only then did he really allow himself to focus on Tenten's reaction to his tale.

* * *

Neji was relieved to note that Sakura wasn't at the table when lunch rolled around the next day. He had no idea how to act around her – didn't know if he'd be able to hide what he now knew.

"Why is Sai sitting with Naruto? And where's Sakura?" Temari asked, as she slowly took in their dwindling numbers, "Did somebody start a mass exodus and forget to tell the rest of us?"

Ino cleared her throat, "Um, actually, Sakura broke up with Sai yesterday," she admitted slowly, not looking at any of them. Neji's eyebrows rose, Sakura had left Sai for Sasuke only to have him choose Tenten over her? Without thought he dropped his head onto his arms, just barely stifling the groan that rose from the depths of his being – everything was just getting worse and worse. Maybe Ino had a point when she told him that a lot of people would get hurt before this resolved itself. No, wait, before _he _resolved it.

He'd spent most of the previous evening plotting ways to get close to Tenten – which was admittedly not an easy task – he was damned if he would confess how he felt in an email – that was _if_ Sasuke would even allow her to read it. Everything inside him recoiled from the thought of Sasuke reading such an email. Involuntarily, Neji's head lifted as he aimed a death glare in Sasuke's direction, and fought against the violence that roiled inside him, urging him to murder.

"Are you all right?" Lee's voice broke through his fantasies of beating Sasuke to a bloody pulp, and Neji jerked upright again, "Of course," he said with as much composure as he could manage, and quickly turned his attention back to the conversation.

A few minutes later, Neji's forehead creased into a frown when it became apparent that Tenten wasn't coming to lunch – and was it his imagination or did Uchiha look a bit … pissed off? As if he wasn't quite as deliriously happy as he usually was, and that could be chalked up to Tenten's absence, but what if Tenten had found out about Sakura kissing Sasuke, and _that _was the reason for her absence and Sasuke's glower? Neji couldn't help the hope that rose within him at the thought…

* * *

The whispered sound of her name drew Sakura out of her miserable musings, and her eyes widened in shock when she saw Tenten standing next to her. Instead of going to lunch, Sakura had decided to hide in the library – she had no desire to watch Sasuke with Tenten and she couldn't face Sai just yet.

Tenten was looking down at her with a strange look on her face, and, suddenly, Sakura wondered why Tenten wasn't pressed up against Sasuke, as usual. _Oh, god, she knows. I can't believe Sasuke told her! _Sakura wailed inwardly, as she tried to look as normal as possible.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Tenten whispered, jerking her head in the direction of the hallway. Mutely, Sakura nodded, and followed her friend out of the library. "Let's take a walk," Tenten suggested once they'd gained the hallway. Again, Sakura simply nodded, she had no idea what to say to Tenten – she knew she should apologize or at least _try_ to explain, but she couldn't quite begin to feel bad about kissing Sasuke. It had been the best experience of her life, and though she _did_ feel slight twinges of guilt over betraying her friend's trust, at the moment she couldn't quite help the over-riding resentment at the idea that Tenten had everything that she wanted and could never have.

They walked out into the sunshine and for a while neither said anything, but when they were a reasonable distance away from the buildings, Tenten halted under a tree, and turned to face Sakura.

"Do you love Sasuke?" Tenten asked earnestly. Sakura's eyes widened – this was not the outpouring of jealousy and anger that she'd been expecting, but before she could say anything, Tenten continued, "I know about yesterday, so please don't lie to me." She stared intently at Sakura, "So, do you actually want Sasuke, or is it that you don't want him with anyone at all?"


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: Thanks very much to everyone who read/reviewed/alerted/favorited! You guys rock ^_^ Okay, I feel I have to point out that I really am making this up as I go along, but I've examined my ideas for this fic in depth and I have to warn you that I really don't intend to rush this. I never wanted the SasuTen thing to just be a stumbling block for NejiTen and SasuSaku. I've always found it a bit unbelievable when they're each other's first kiss, first love and everything's just perfect – so, I'm not suddenly going to make SasuTen conveniently disappear just because Neji has seen the light – the characters have to develop and in order for them to do that we have to see the SasuTen angle through to its conclusion. However, I do promise that the eventual pairings haven't changed – it's just going to take me a bit longer to get there – I don't think that, in this context, SasuTen will just suddenly grind to a halt, so we have to explore those feelings/events before they can wind up with their true love (as it were). Anyway, just thought I should warn you, I hope that everyone will stick it out with me regardless. Oh, and just a reminder, OOC-ness blah blah – I'm sure you're all well aware, lol. Happy reading! PLEEEAAASSSEE review –it keeps me motivated to write, and makes me exceptionally happy, too ^_^**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**_

* * *

_**Chapter 6**_

Sakura stared at Tenten with eyes narrowed to cat-like slits. "I don't know," she whispered, at last, defeat washing across her features, "But I think that maybe I do. I never meant to hurt anyone and I wasn't just trying to be spiteful." She looked Tenten squarely in the eye, refusing to give in to the urge to lower her gaze when guilt washed over her at the flash of emotion in the other girl's eyes.

Tenten nodded slowly, "I understand." Then she turned and walked away. Sakura stared after her, surprised into immobility. _That's it? No recriminations? Just 'I understand'?! _She took a deep breath, "Are we okay?" she called after her friend.

For a moment Sakura was sure that Tenten wouldn't respond, wouldn't stop, but then Tenten turned around. "I don't know," Tenten sent an uncertain smile at Sakura, "but I think that maybe, given time, we will be."

Sakura nodded, and gave a small smile of her own before Tenten turned again, and headed back towards the school buildings – and exhaled in relief. Though sadness and pain were the dominant emotions at the moment, Sakura couldn't help being thankful that at least her friendships would be spared – having already lost Sasuke she didn't want to lose her friends too.

* * *

Tenten trudged wearily toward her locker – she really didn't have much of an appetite and the bell was due in a few minutes anyway. She felt Sasuke's presence behind her before she really heard him, and she didn't resist when he took her hand, hesitantly entwining their fingers. She gave him a small, side-ways smile, more to acknowledge his presence than anything else, and he was the first to break the silence, "Where were you?" Sasuke asked quietly.

She shrugged dismissively, still not really looking at Sasuke. He stopped suddenly, the motion pulling Tenten to a halt as well, and she tumbled backward into his arms, off-balance. Nuzzling the nape of her neck, Sasuke wrapped his arms tightly around her. "I missed you," he whispered huskily, and was gratified to feel the slight trembling of her body – things might be very unsettled between them at the moment, but at least she was still responding to his physical proximity.

Tenten sighed and relaxed into his arms, after a small, tense pause, but still didn't say anything. Sasuke turned her around, and tilted her chin up so he could look into her eyes, "I really am sorry," he said softly, earnestly.

"I know," she whispered, blinking back the suddenly forming tears, and giving him a tremulous smile as she stood on tip-toe to press a light kiss against the corner of his mouth. The bell rang, and Tenten drew away quickly. "We'll be late," she said, but, when she took his hand and held on tightly, Sasuke allowed himself to hope, for the first time, that maybe everything would be all right again – eventually.

* * *

Neji leaned against the wall, impatiently waiting for Sakura to arrive for her class. None of the plans he'd been able to come up with had a high probability of success and he'd finally decided that he was going to need back-up. Two heads were better than one and who better than Sakura? They were natural allies, in this case.

Finally, he caught sight of her pink hair through the throng, and when she reached his side – giving him a small nod hello – he grabbed her arm and quickly pulled her away from the open door. "Hey – what?" Sakura exclaimed, indignantly pulling her arm from his grasp.

"Just hear me out," Neji began, raising his hands and trying his very best to not show the intensity of his emotions, "I saw you with Sasuke yesterday, okay? And I heard what he said," Neji firmly ignored the horrified look dawning in her eyes, "I really don't care what your motivations were, but, believe me, I'm not any happier about his choice than you are." Sakura eyed him speculatively, the blush beginning to recede from her cheeks, "What are you saying, Neji?" she asked slowly.

"I think you know exactly what I'm saying," Neji smirked and crossed his arms as he leaned against the bank of lockers behind him. Sakura grinned at him, but the light in her eyes dulled swiftly, "I hear you. But it's no good. He told her, Neji. He actually felt bad enough to tell her that I – I kissed him," she glanced furtively around but no one was paying the slightest attention to their whispered discussion. Sakura was unable to hide the stab of pain that accompanied her words, but, strangely, Neji didn't mind bearing witness to her unhappiness – he could understand it better than anyone, though he was much better at hiding his feelings.

Neji cocked his head, "True, but I'm not talking about anything more than creating an opportunity for us to give them a … push in the right direction. Though, it _would _be a big plus if they wound up hating each other," he added almost under his breath and Sakura couldn't contain her smile, couldn't help but allow his confidence to infect her. But, deep down she couldn't quite shake the feeling that no matter what they could come up with, it likely wouldn't be good enough.

* * *

Tenten sighed with relief when the last period finally ended – her emotions were much too tangled up and her concentration suffered as a result making the school day seem twice as long as it actually was. She reached her locker, and frowned when a piece of paper fluttered to the ground as she opened the door. Bending slowly she picked it up, and gingerly turned it over in her hand – she'd never before received a note via the vents of her locker, and she couldn't help but wonder who on earth would do that – wasn't that what cell phones were for these days?

Curiosity peaked and she unfolded the paper with quick movements, smiling slightly when she recognized Sasuke's handwriting. _Meet me in the main parking lot – I skipped study hall._ She quickly grabbed the books she needed before heading for the main doors.

She blinked in the bright sunlight, and, for the first time since the previous afternoon, a genuine smile lifted her lips when she saw Sasuke leaning against his car, waiting for her. Maybe everything would be all right after all. She walked up to him and he swept her into a bone-crushing hug, swinging her around slightly until she gasped in protest. "Can't … breathe …"

Sasuke put her down, and opened the passenger door with a slight flourish of his hand. Tenten began to laugh when she caught sight of a container of her favorite ice-cream waiting in the cup-holder. "Bribing me, are you? What do you want?" she asked teasingly, but then her eyes met his and her breath caught in her throat. Sasuke reached out and gently brushed his knuckles down her cheek, "To see you smile like that," he replied before quickly walking around to the driver's side. Tenten sank slowly, gratefully, into her seat – every now and again he caught her off-guard with gestures like this and, invariably, she couldn't help melting just like the ice-cream would on the warmth of her tongue.

* * *

"They're trying so hard it actually hurts to watch them," Sakura groaned as she dropped her head onto the table. Luckily, only Neji had arrived for lunch as yet so she could speak freely. Neji frowned, "It's a lot harder than I thought it was going to be," he admitted softly, the comment directed more to himself than to the pink-haired girl opposite. Sakura lifted her head and propped her chin in her hands. "Maybe we should up the ante a bit?" she suggested. They'd tried everything they could think of to separate Tenten and Sasuke for a long enough period of time to allow her and Neji to talk to them, _show _them, that the current arrangement could be improved upon. Eventually, in desperation, they'd even agreed that Sakura would have to approach Sasuke under the guise of apologizing for her behavior (Sakura had agreed under the condition that she discuss it with Tenten first – she'd nearly lost one of her best friends once and she wasn't about to risk it happening again, not now things were finally beginning to thaw a bit between her and Tenten). But, Sasuke had simply stared at her impassively for a while before saying that anything she had to say to him could be said in front of his girlfriend. Emphasis on the girlfriend. Sakura winced at the memory.

"No," Neji shook his head, "everything we've tried has only made them that much more determined to make it work." He was still quietly simmering over the fact that he'd eventually had to resort to Lee as a go-between to get communication between himself and Tenten flowing again. Though, thankfully, they were back on speaking terms again, even if they weren't exactly _friendly_. Still, every time he so much as said hello to Tenten he was very aware of Sasuke hovering close by, a tall, silent sentinel.

"No," Neji repeated, slowly, thoughtfully, "we've been going about this all wrong. We're trying to _create _opportunities, when we should've been trying to tweak pre-existing situations."

"Huh?" Sakura looked confused, "what pre-existing situation are you talking about?" Neji shook his head, long hair flying (Sakura couldn't help a brief, jealous look at the silky strands that flowed back to frame his face – really, as if long lashes weren't enough, did he have to have such gorgeous hair too? What on earth was a _guy _doing with it anyway? Life just wasn't fair), "Sorry," he said, "I was just thinking – we should be trying to use a situation where they will _have_ to be apart to our advantage – and preferably not a situation that they could suspect we've had a hand in at all."

Sakura glared at him, "Talk like a normal person, would you? How on earth am I supposed to understand you when you're all cryptic."

Neji smirked, "Keep up, Sakura – I know it's hard but _try_. I'm referring to my cousin's birthday, of course." Sakura glared at him before registering what he'd said, "Of _course_," she breathed, slapping a hand lightly to her forehead. Neji inclined his head modestly, and for the umpteenth time Sakura wondered what on earth Tenten saw in him – sure he was hot and smart but the unfailing superiority and arrogance really got on her nerves after a while.

Neji leaned forward, suddenly serious, "Here's what we do – since my uncle has ridiculously archaic ideas of what entails a suitable celebration for his daughter, he's bound to say she's allowed to have a few girls over for whatever she wants to do – but definitely no guys-"

"He does know you're a guy right? Isn't he afraid you'll corrupt her?" Sakura couldn't help the sarcastic jibe and Neji glared at her, "Of course he's aware that I'm male – don't be ridiculous, anyway, he doesn't mind me – or Naruto so much anymore, even though they're not allowed to be alone in the house at any time or go out late at night – he just needs time to adjust to guys around his daughters, that's all."

Sakura shook her head in amazement, and thanked her lucky stars that she wasn't Hinata. "Okay," she took up the plan, "so, Hinata will have her usual girls night, same as every year, and you'll make sure you're around, ready to take advantage of any moment Tenten might be alone, which leaves me where?"

"Make up some excuse not to attend – or get ill during the party, or tell them your parents semi-grounded you so you can't stay all night – tell them whatever you want. Of course, my uncle will then insist that I take you home, and I can take you straight to Sasuke," he leaned back, smiling in satisfaction.

Slowly Sakura nodded, "It might work. Of course, they could both still tell us to get lost. They've been very careful about not being alone with either of us – I noticed how Tenten makes sure that Sasuke is with her when she talks to you."

"Hinata's birthday is still a month away – more than enough time for them to get complacent. But that's why we have to back off as of right now," Neji abruptly pretended to be very interested in his lunch, when Lee took the seat next to him, and Sakura immediately turned her head to stare out the window – there was no way they could risk anyone jeopardizing the plan – it was the best one to date.

* * *

Tenten squirmed slightly in Sasuke's arms. _Just kiss me already!_ She couldn't help the disgruntled thoughts chasing around her mind – and, annoyingly, Sasuke seemed perfectly content half-lying on the couch with his attention focused on the television screen. Tenten didn't even know what they were watching.

Since the entire Sakura affair (Tenten couldn't help wincing at her bad choice of words) Sasuke had been unfailingly attentive, and caring, but, for some unknown reason, he'd barely touched her since. Oh, he was more than happy to hold her like this, but his kisses were short and, though they were filled with heartbreaking sweetness, Tenten had to wonder where his earlier passion had gone. She didn't even admit it to herself, not really, but deep down inside she'd begun to wonder if he still found her attractive at all.

Abruptly, she decided that she'd had enough of tip-toeing around – surely it would be best to see if the spark was still there, rather than this endless wondering? She shifted around a bit, until she was facing Sasuke, and slowly trailed a fingertip over his mouth. He opened his mouth slightly, the tip of his tongue touching the pad of her index finger as he pressed a soft kiss against it, but he never looked away from the screen.

Slowly Tenten wormed her other hand under his shirt to trace soft circles around his navel, and she could feel his stomach muscles tensing at her touch, but, aside from a brief glance down at her, he showed no other reaction. She continued her soft caresses and lifted her fingers to his mouth again, and, for a while, Sasuke let her be, simply sat back and allowed her exploration. Tenten decided that more would be necessary, and let her fingers drift searchingly up his chest. When she brushed lightly over a flat nipple, Sasuke tensed involuntarily, obviously thinking it had been an accident and Tenten bit her lip to hide the smile when she deliberately brushed over it again. Sasuke's eyes narrowed, "What are you doing?" he asked mildly, his tone completely at odds with the tension in his body.

Tenten returned his gaze innocently, "Nothing." Sasuke took a deep breath when her hand skimmed down to dip fleetingly below the waistband of his jeans, and leveled her with a disapproving look. "Is the movie boring you?" he asked, some unknown inflection heavy in his voice. Tenten couldn't help the quick grin, "No, I'm sure it's very interesting … it's just that you're … more interesting," she replied after a moment of mock consideration.

Sasuke growled and she lifted a finger to his lips again, motioning him to be quiet. With a challenging look up at him, she slowly lifted the hem of his shirt up, and before he could protest, she'd bent her head down to replace her questing fingers with her tongue – tracing the muscles of his abdomen with slow licks. She nearly laughed when he sucked the finger she had on his lips into his mouth and bit down lightly.

Tenten could feel him fighting for control – and she reveled in the knowledge that clearly the spark hadn't entirely gone – Sasuke's muscles were tensing slightly beneath her touches, and she licked lower, letting her tongue dip beneath the waistband of his jeans this time. Sasuke jerked in surprise, reflexively burying a hand in her hair, but he quickly caught himself , and levered her back up again. Tenten pouted at him, "You're no fun."

"Your parents are in the house," he reminded her tersely, "and I have no desire to be castrated by your father." Tenten laughed softly, "Okay, fine, I'll be good … on one condition." Sasuke stared at her suspiciously, "What condition?"

Tenten's expression evened out and she regarded him seriously, "Please kiss me." Sasuke looked confused for a moment before leaning forward compliantly to press his lips to hers, his tongue flicking out in a quick lick as he dragged her lower lip between his teeth.

He sat back, "Now will you please stop teasing me, and watch the movie?" he asked, shifting uncomfortably. He was trying so hard to deepen their relationship – and she just wouldn't stop _tempting _him. Tenten continued to stare at him intently, "Really _kiss_ me," she repeated, and Sasuke couldn't stop himself from reacting to that.

He drew her closer, intending to make the kiss short, but Tenten swung her leg over his hips to straddle his lap, and his hands instinctively settled on her hips to hold her tightly against him, and he was lost. Some time later – he had no idea how long – she suddenly shifted off of him, and he closed his eyes, leaning his head back, as he heard the sound of exaggerated footsteps approaching – her mother's way of announcing her imminent presence.

"Goddamnit," he swore softly, "How do they always know just when to interrupt - we have got to start spending more time at my house." He adjusted his clothing swiftly, firmly refusing to look at Tenten, but he could hear the laughter in her voice when she replied softly, "Seconded – interruptions are beginning to be a bit … wearying." Sasuke shot her a quick, disbelieving look – was she saying what he thought she was saying? The blush on her cheeks was doing nothing to allay suspicions, but before he could ask her what, _exactly,_ she meant her mother entered the living room with a lot of throat clearing, and Sasuke pretended to watch the movie, while his thoughts whirled in his head and he fought against the anticipation building in his body.

Tenten smiled softly at the look on Sasuke's face – he looked totally confused in a very adorable way, and she hugged her arms around her knees, for the first time really allowing herself to believe that this, the two of them, just might work.

* * *

**_A/N: How will Neji convince Tenten? And will Sakura be able to get Sasuke to listen to her? Mmm ... let me know what you thought!_**


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N: I would like to dedicate this chapter to everyone who reviewed, especially siny and weaponsmistressbunny, and, in particular, to Kygolie in the hope that this chapter will save her from self-inflicted baldness ^_^ I really appreciate your support and feedback! Also, thanks to everyone who has read/alerted/favorited, it's greatly appreciated. **_

_**I hope you like, and, as always, please, please, pretty please review and make my day!**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**_

* * *

_**Chapter 7**_

A week before Hinata's birthday Neji started praying. In fact, he even caught himself having long discussions with fate – surely, it wasn't too much to ask that, for once in his life, everything worked out the way he wanted it to? He walked slowly into the cafeteria, caught up in his inner bargaining – currently he was promising fate anything it wanted as long as he got some sign that he was going about things the right way – but he nearly dropped his lunch when he reached the table and saw Tenten seated in what had been her usual seat, merrily talking to Lee.

He allowed himself a momentary pause – just for a little while he wanted nothing more than to drink in the sight of her back where she belonged – but then, with a wholly uncharacteristic smile, he joined them, sitting on Tenten's other side. And it was just like old times, as if the intervening months had never happened, and if he tried hard enough he could even forget all about Sasuke for short periods of time.

"Where's Sasuke?" Temari asked Tenten eventually, voicing the question on everyone's minds. Tenten hadn't offered the information and no one wanted to spoil the small reunion with awkward inquiries. Neji turned slightly and wasn't really surprised to see Sasuke's usual seat empty – it was a sure bet that if Sasuke had been in the vicinity Tenten wouldn't be this close to him.

"He had to go away with Itachi – something about an honorable mention and a charity fundraiser?" Tenten shrugged slightly. Temari's eyes narrowed but she stayed quiet, and soon the conversation flowed naturally again. Neji leaned toward Tenten slightly, watching as she talked, trying his utmost to listen but in actual fact too mesmerized by the movement of her mouth to really be able to concentrate on her words. Inwardly, he rejoiced – this was the sign he'd been waiting for, he was sure of it.

* * *

_One week later …_

Everyone else had fallen asleep, but Tenten was still wide awake – with Neji in the same house, her chances of a restful night were slim to none. She had arrived for Hinata's annual birthday sleepover, unsurprised to discover that Neji was in attendance (though she had tactfully refrained from informing Sasuke that Neji would be there). Every year Hinata's father took off as soon as the girls were settled and he'd made sure that they had everything they could need, leaving Neji to chaperone – it never failed to amaze Tenten that Hyuuga Hiashi, a fairly terrifying figure in his own right, could be intimidated by five teenaged girls.

She had always felt vaguely sorry for Neji on these occasions – she didn't imagine that a night spent listening to overly loud giggles and silliness was any more fun for him than it was for his uncle. Though this year had been slightly different on several fronts, just before Hiashi had left for his business dinner Sakura had taken ill – nothing too serious but she _had _looked rather pale and clammy – and Neji had quickly run her home. But on his return, instead of retreating to his bedroom as he usually did, he'd joined them in their pizza dinner.

Tenten frowned, now she thought about it, he'd been around a lot more tonight than usual – she'd run into him to and from the kitchen or the bathroom a few times. She sighed silently, the last week had been like a holiday from her life – with Sasuke out of town she'd taken the opportunity to spend some quality time with her friends, and it was almost as if the last few months were just a quickly fading dream. Guiltily, she admitted to herself that part of what had made the last week so special had been Neji's uncharacteristic behavior. She'd never known him to be so … _nice_. His usual intensity hadn't diminished in the slightest, but the intensity had taken on an almost emotional quality, so that Tenten found herself unwillingly caught in his charm all over again.

Long brown locks spread across her pillow in a wild cascade as Tenten shook her head vigorously – what was she thinking?! Of course she didn't still think that Neji was … anything other than a friend, No, she _definitely_ didn't still want to touch him … kiss him … be close to him …

Stifling the cry of frustration Tenten jumped silently to her feet and almost ran from Hinata's room. Out in the hallway, she paused for a moment before deciding that a glass of water was what she needed. Slowly, Tenten made her way to the kitchen, trying her utmost not to think about Neji, or Sasuke (because then she only felt guilty and, damnit, she didn't _have _anything to feel guilty _about_).

She moved quietly down the long hallway – the house had always seemed almost disproportionately large for the amount of people living there, but tonight she was glad that Neji's room was in another wing. Tenten fully intended to go straight to the kitchen for the desired water but she was so lost in thought that she didn't pay much attention to where her feet were taking her, and the next thing she knew she was in front of Neji's bedroom.

* * *

A slight noise outside his door brought Neji out of his glum thoughts – everything had been going according to plan – better even - what with Sasuke's absence during the last week. He'd even had the chance to lay a bit of friendly groundwork before he hit Tenten with it all at once. But then, yesterday, Sasuke had come back, and, for the first time, ugly doubts had begun to raise their heads. She'd looked _happy _to see Sasuke. Somehow Neji had never really allowed himself to think that Sasuke _did _make Tenten happy – and he'd begun to wonder whether he really had the right to take that away from her.

He'd watched her surreptiously tonight – the flow of her hair, the graceful movements of her hands as she spoke, the way her lips shimmered pink after she'd licked some ice-cream off of her spoon – and, with an almost gut-wrenching start he'd realized that he really _loved _her. For the first time in Neji's life someone else's happiness mattered more than his own wants and needs, and it had completely thrown him, even as it finally resolved the nagging question of _why _he was going to so much trouble to try and get her back.

He'd acknowledged that he wanted her months ago – but years of emotional repression hadn't prepared him for all the soul-searching he'd been doing since, and now he could only wonder how in the world that all-important little piece of information had escaped his notice. Swiftly on the heels of the realization had come the knowledge that he would die rather than hurt Tenten ever again – and wouldn't it hurt her to lose Sasuke? He'd wavered, caught between what he wanted and what was right, and though numerous opportunities arose, he hadn't approached her.

The thoughts had whirled around in endless circles and, finally, he'd just gone to bed – for the first time truly unsure of what to do. He'd been lying in the agonizing dark ever since, but the small, shuffling noise was a welcome distraction, and Neji frowned as he got off his bed to investigate.

* * *

Tenten hovered uncertainly in the hallway, confused as to why she'd almost sub-consciously made her way to Neji, and torn between wanting to leave and the desire to see if Neji was asleep. She hadn't made up her mind as to a course of action when the door swung open to reveal the object of her bewildered thoughts, silhouetted against the dim light of a lamp from inside the room.

She swallowed hard and tried her utmost not to stare at the silk of his hair as it cascaded loosely over his shoulders and down his back. His decidedly naked back. Tenten's mouth went dry when she realized that she was hovering in front of Neji's bedroom, in the middle of the night, while he leaned indolently against the doorframe clad in nothing more than a pair of low-riding sweatpants. He smirked at her, and crossed his arms – and she wasn't staring at the way his muscles rippled, she _wasn't_ – but then Neji spoke and his voice had a low, caressing quality that she'd never imagined she'd hear. Tenten tried very hard to gain control of her racing pulse, but her thoughts were hopelessly derailed, and she couldn't salvage anything more coherent than 'oh god' from the tangle.

"Looking for something?" Neji drawled – just when he'd very nearly decided to give up totally, when he'd nearly resigned himself to having really lost her for good, she showed up as if she'd been sent, and his wavering confidence in his actions turned to newfound conviction. She shook her head frantically, and he smirked again as he leaned against the doorframe. After a long silence, Tenten finally raised her eyes to his, and Neji's heart beat loudly in his chest – he could see the mingled want and confusion in her gaze, and so he softened his voice, "Is everything all right?"

He was still trying to think of how he could continue the conversation, but it abruptly became a moot point when Tenten took a slow step toward him, and then another, until she was standing just inches away. A hesitant hand reached out to stroke over his hair where it lay curled over his shoulder, and Neji closed his eyes at the pleasure of her touch. He kept his eyes closed - just in case this was a dream.

A soft, fluttering touch to his lips made him smile, and, without thought, he reached out to cup the back of her head, his hand buried in the dark fall of her hair, while the other gently gripped her hip to draw her closer. He angled his head and slowly brushed his mouth across hers, and it was only when Tenten opened her mouth to let his tongue slide along her own that he realized that this felt far too real to be a dream.

* * *

The world spun, and lights flashed, and unknown sounds thundered in her ears - a confusing cacophony that assailed Tenten's senses incessantly. Neji's mouth burned like a brand atop her own, and, from somewhere amid the chaos, a small voice spoke up, its tone laced with satisfaction. _This is as it should be. _Tenten drew back to stare at Neji with wide-eyes, her chest heaving as she gasped for breath – and he smiled. The way she saw him smile far too rarely, and it jerked at something in the region of her heart that human hands could never touch.

She was still trying desperately to hold on to some shred of sanity when Neji leaned forward again, drawing her into the warm circle of his arms. Their mouths met, and Tenten disappeared – she was consumed by his warmth, his touch, the smooth, silky feel of his skin and his hair – her world shrank to encompass only Neji, and Tenten surrendered to the knowledge that she'd never been happier in her life.

* * *

Tenten woke to a feeling of complete and utter bliss, her cheek pillowed on the smooth skin of Neji's chest. After that first life-altering, earth-shaking kiss, they'd somehow landed on his bed, mouths only parting – reluctantly – when the urge to breathe became a necessity.

Eventually, they'd calmed down somewhat – the need to experience as much as possible before the other disappeared subsumed by the need for closeness – and when Neji had opened his mouth, the light of combat glinting in his eyes, Tenten had swiftly silenced him with another kiss – she couldn't talk, didn't want to talk – it might just ruin everything. She had no desire to be recalled to the problems that awaited them, right now it was more than enough to just bask in the feel of Neji finally in her arms. Their hands had traced each other almost delicately as they memorized the planes and dips of the other's frame, and Tenten had finally admitted to herself that she was still hopelessly in love with him. The realization had sprung from the depths of her soul – where she'd buried it – when it had become apparent that, despite Neji's obvious desire, he was holding back – content to simply hold her and kiss her, as if he'd instinctively known that was what she needed, craved, above all else.

Now she smiled as she turned slightly and Neji's arms tightened around her. He looked so beautiful, so peaceful, that Tenten couldn't resist – she kissed him and wound a long strand of hair around her fingers. "I love you," she whispered softly against his mouth – and resolutely pushed all other thoughts away, for now she was allowed to dream, and, in her dream, it was safe to tell him exactly how she felt. She laid her head on his shoulder, cuddling closer, completely oblivious to the slight smiled that graced the sleeping Neji's features. She buried her nose in the curve of his neck, inhaling the scent of his skin contentedly, and for a long time she was able to forget about everything but the here and now.

His hands stroked softly along her side, waking her from her half-doze, to slip under the hem of the t-shirt she'd worn to bed, and Tenten shivered as he kissed the top of her head and whispered a sleepy good morning – thankful that she was already lying down because the low, husky timbre of his voice was doing funny things to her knees.

She traced small patterns along on his stomach and sighed in response, unable to force the words past her lips, and Neji's low laugh vibrated through his chest, making her entire body tremble. "Go back to sleep, Ten – it's still early. It'll be hours before the others wake up."

Abruptly Tenten flew upright, panic-stricken eyes clashing with his confused ones. "What?" he asked, looking around as if to see what had startled her. "The others," Tenten gasped as she struggled out of his grasp, and swung her legs to the floor.

Neji had barely begun to gather his thoughts and she was already at the door – and nothing had been resolved. He reacted, catching hold of Tenten just as she turned the doorknob, and swung her around to face him. Before she could protest, or even draw a gasp of surprise, Neji pressed her firmly against the door and captured her mouth in a quick, hard kiss. "Come back to me," he whispered when he drew away to lean his forehead against hers, staring searchingly into her eyes.

Tenten knew he didn't mean literally, and she shook with repressed emotion. Firmly refusing to contemplate the predicament she found herself in, she simply let the truth fall from her lips without over-analyzing its meanings and implications, "Always."

She fumbled for the doorknob behind her, slipped quietly out of Neji's arms, and ran back to Hinata's bedroom, praying that no one had woken up in the night and noticed her absence. The last thing she needed was for Sasuke to find out before she'd even begun to figure out what it was that she really wanted.

* * *

Sakura wiped her palms nervously on her jeans, took a deep breath, and rang the doorbell. The wait seemed almost interminable, but finally Sasuke opened the door. The expressions flitted across his features so fast it was almost comical – surprise, disbelief, suspicion.

"Hi," Sakura said, wincing a little when her voice squeaked. Sasuke's eyebrows arched, eloquent without words as always, and Sakura nearly turned to run, but then she forced herself to meet his gaze without flinching. "Hi," he finally grumbled back, still staring suspiciously at her. "What can I do for you?"

Sakura took a deep breath, "Um, well, you see, I'm actually grounded, and it was Hinata's birthday party tonight, so I _had_ to make an appearance, and, in order to do that, I needed a convincing lie, so Naruto offered to cover for me – my parents think we're working on a project – but he couldn't pick me up from Hinata's in case her dad asked questions, and your house is the closest … so, he's picking me up here," she finished lamely, already regretting her rambling lie when Sasuke stared at her with thinly veiled disbelief. _Damnit, Haruno, should've just kept it short and sweet_,she cursed inwardly and tried to look as innocent and sincere as possible.

Finally Sasuke sighed in defeat and threw the door open. Without looking at her again he disappeared into the dark recesses of the house, and Sakura took that as her cue to enter. Slowly she crossed the threshold and closed the door softly behind her. Her heart was pounding so loudly she was sure Sasuke must be able to hear it in the next room, but she grabbed hold of her courage with both hands and entered the living room – it was now or never.

* * *

_**A/N: Thanks so much for reading! Sorry the chapter is a bit on the short side, but I had to end it here or else include the entire next chapter as well! It sort of seems as if the chapters are just naturally defining themselves, lol. Anyway, don't forget to review!**_


	8. Chapter 8

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A/N: Wow, I'm so sorry for the long delay in updating! I was having a slight case of writer's block which seems to have lifted, finally. I hope. Anyway, thanks for waiting patiently and I hope you enjoy the chapter!  
Pleeeeaaaassssseeee REVIEW ^_^!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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_**Chapter 8**_

Sakura stared at Sasuke from beneath lowered lashes. She'd followed him into the living room where he sprawled on the couch and continued to watch TV as if she wasn't even there. Frantically, she tried to think of something to say. The problem was: she had no idea of how to proceed - she'd never allowed herself to imagine actually getting this far.

Her eyes widened in surprise when Sasuke suddenly stood up, but he turned and walked to the doorway. Without looking at her, he said, "Do you want something to drink before Naruto gets here?"

Sakura blushed, this was potentially problematic. What if she couldn't manage to convince Sasuke? How on earth was she getting home, because she was damned if she'd let Sasuke know how much trouble she'd been to just to get him alone! If all else failed, she supposed she could call Neji again, but that might just ruin all _his _plans and ….

"Sakura!"

"Yes," her head jerked up again from the contemplation of her folded hands, and she stared at Sasuke in confusion. He was still standing in the doorway but he'd turned around to look at her. Sakura wondered why on earth he was glaring at her as if she'd totally lost it, before she remembered that she'd never answered him about the drink. "Oh! Sorry, um, sure, I'd love something to drink," she mumbled, trying to force back the blush. This was not going the way she wanted it to at all. She wasn't supposed to act like a bumbling idiot – where had all her usual confidence gone?

She was still trying to control the blush by the time Sasuke returned. He handed her bottle of juice over wordlessly but Sakura simply stared at the plastic container in his hand. "What?" Sasuke asked irritably thrusting the bottle into her hand before flopping back down on the couch.

Sakura turned the bottle over in her hands, "You remembered," she said quietly. She shot a quick side-long glance at Sasuke who shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, so?" he finally muttered. Sakura stared at the bottle again, tears filling her eyes. After all this time he still remembered, still bought apple juice despite the fact that he detested it.

"Itachi got to liking it, so don't go reading anything into the fact that I happened to have apple juice and remembered that you liked it," Sasuke said after a moment of silence. She nodded slowly, and placed the bottle on a side-table, suddenly unable to hold back the tears anymore. It was as if all the years of missing Sasuke had suddenly crashed down on her all at once, and all she wanted was to get as far away from him as possible so that she could bawl her eyes out in peace.

"I'm sorry, this was a bad idea," she mumbled as she blindly began making her way to the front door, praying that the tears would hold until she was safely outside. Sakura had just reached the door when a hand closed around her wrist, yanking her around to face a confused looking Sasuke.

He stared at her in silence, dark eyes noting the tears clinging to her lashes, and sighed. "It's just juice – don't cry over it," he said at last, a faint smirk lifting the corners of his mouth.

The smirk was too much – way too much for her overwrought emotions and Sakura simply hung her head and allowed the threatening tears to spill over. She tried to pull her wrist out of Sasuke's grasp but he wouldn't let go, and when she raised her tear-stained face to glare at him, the strangest expression crossed his features - something between longing and regret. Then Sasuke pulled her into his arms with a barely audible sigh, and the next thing Sakura knew she was sobbing her heart out into his chest. All the events of the past few months welled up and with relief she let it all out – somehow not even feeling awkward: it felt _right _to be in Sasuke's arms, his hands stroking soothingly over her hair and her back.

A long time later, when the tears dried up – Sasuke gently pulled her back to the living room, sat her down, handed her the juice that had been the catalyst to the entire situation, and settled down across from her. "We need to talk," he said seriously, and Sakura gulped, she really wouldn't be able to take being told she wasn't good enough yet again.

Sasuke leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and stared at his entwined fingers. "I'm sorry for the way I treated you when we were younger. I was stupid and arrogant and I took you for granted. But when you told me how you felt just before we left – I just didn't know how to react. It's no excuse but I…" he grimaced, "I don't deal well with emotion - we were leaving anyway, and so I just didn't want to go that route, I didn't want either of us to wind up being hurt, so I guess I thought I was doing you a favour – hurting you a little at the time but that it would be for the best in the long run. I've grown up a lot – realized that the world didn't actually revolve around me, but you never gave me a chance to explain, to say that I was sorry. And then you kissed me," Sasuke ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath, "You kissed me and I wanted you," he said baldly.

Sakura nodded slowly, so she hadn't imagined the connection when their lips had met. Sasuke sighed again, "Now, here we are, and I just don't know where to go from here. I have Tenten to consider – I care about her, Sakura. I don't want to hurt her because of some unresolved issues between us."

She couldn't help wincing – it hurt to hear that he felt that way about Tenten. "I know," she finally whispered back, "Tenten is my friend and I don't want her to be hurt either. I just … I can't seem to stay away from you."

Sakura didn't look up, not when she heard him move, not when she felt the depression of the couch cushions as he dropped down beside her. "Maybe we could just try to be friends," Sasuke suggested, at last, though he sounded uncertain. She could feel his eyes boring into her and Sakura nodded her assent – this wasn't exactly what she wanted but, at the end of the day, Sasuke had been her friend for a long time and she missed that – it was better than nothing after all.

She raised her eyes to his and Sasuke smiled crookedly, "Naruto isn't coming, is he?" he asked sardonically. Sakura blushed and laughed softly before confirming his suspicions, "No," she admitted looking him straight in the eye. Sasuke shook his head ruefully, "Didn't think so. Well, want to get a head-start on the friendship thing? We could watch some movies or something? I'm assuming your parents aren't expecting you back any time soon, either?"

For a long moment Sakura stared at him, "I'd like that," she said finally, "and my parents think I'm with Hinata," she admitted in shame. Sasuke laughed, "I'm surprised at you, Haruno – who would've thought you'd lie like this."

He hit the button on the remote and soon a companionable silence descended, but Sakura was unable to relax completely. "Sasuke?" she whispered when she couldn't hold the words back anymore. She felt him stiffen next to her, but went on regardless, "Apology accepted – I know you didn't mean to hurt me all those years ago."

Sasuke relaxed at her words and when he reached an arm across her shoulders to draw her into a hug, Sakura simply relaxed against his chest and turned her attention to the television screen, but barely any time had passed before Sasuke became aware of her even breathing. Softly, he brushed her hair out of her face, sliding down slightly so that she could rest more comfortably against him.

* * *

In the still air of the pre-dawn Tenten silently let herself back into Hinata's room, breathing a sigh of relief when no one stirred. She slowly lowered herself onto her sleeping bag and she'd just settled down when Temari's voice whispered from her left. "We are _so _going to have a little talk later."

Tenten winced at the threatening tone in her friend's words but she stayed quiet and pretended not to have heard anything. "I know you heard me, Ten – and I'm deadly serious. You're going to tell me _everything_."

"Fine, just shut up," Tenten hissed back finally – Temari's voice had risen an octave or two and she didn't need the other girls on her back as well. Temari huffed but stayed quiet and soon her even breathing told Tenten that she was the only one awake again.

The thoughts that she'd been so successful at suppressing while in Neji's arms came back to haunt her and Tenten frantically tried to make sense of the tangled mess. How could she have done that to Sasuke? He deserved better than a two-timing girlfriend, though he _had _kissed Sakura. Tenten shook her head. No, that wasn't fair, _Sakura_ had kissed _him_. In a hallway, in broad daylight. Compared with an all-night make-out session, alone in Neji's bedroom, in Neji's _bed_ …

She ran an agitated hand over her face. The problem was that she had no idea what to do. She'd as good as promised Neji that she would come back to him, but where did that leave Sasuke? She didn't want to hurt him – didn't want him to think that she'd just been leading him on until Neji finally noticed her.

Hours later, she'd still not reached any kind of conclusion and the others were beginning to stir. Tenten firmly ignored the good mornings, keeping her eyes closed, as the thoughts raced around her mind. The way she'd felt when Neji kissed her – it was almost hallucinogenic – he was like a force of nature: primal, possessive, passionate. She'd felt as if every touch of his lips branded her with his mark – and even now she was sure that someone only had to look at her to see that she belonged to him heart, body and soul. And the worst part was that she _loved _that – Tenten, who had always prided herself on being such a feminist, was revelling in the domination of a male. She shook her head. _Okay, moving along. That kind of thinking is not going to resolve anything. I don't need more Neji fantasies at the moment. _

Focusing hard Tenten tried to compare the way she'd felt earlier to the way she felt with Sasuke. Where Neji was this irresistible, drugging _force_, Sasuke was … smooth, persuasive, seductive. But, deep down, she could finally admit to herself that, much as she cared about Sasuke – she didn't _feel_ with him – not emotionally. _That's only because you know Neji so well – don't go imagining that there was more there! Given time, it would feel the same with Sasuke. Wouldn't it?_ Tenten firmly turned away from _that_ line of thinking as well.

She didn't want to be the kind of person who would do this sort of thing. She _wasn't _that kind of person, damnit! And though nothing could ever bring her to regret the hours spent with Neji, she had to do what was right. This confusion would only hurt all three of them – she had to find out what she wanted. She took a deep breath – decision made – and started to prepare herself. For weeks now, ever since she'd shyly told Sasuke that she was willing to take their relationship to the next stage, he'd been subtly hinting that there was no time like the present. Thus far, she'd managed to make an excuse every time he tried to steer her in the direction of his house, (just when she thought she was ready she would chicken out again), but maybe it was time to take that step.

Firmly, she pushed away the warning voice that told her that sleeping with Sasuke out of some misplaced sense of guilt was a _very _bad idea. It wasn't like that – she wasn't doing this to make it up to him or anything, she just wanted to find out what she wanted. _And, anyway, it's not like it would go that far_, she told her inner voice before she stretched and gave a fake yawn. "Morning," she mumbled, refusing to look at Temari.

Tenten ignored the curious stares of the others as she began to gather up her things. "What are you doing?" Ino finally voiced the question in everyone's eyes, but Tenten simply continued piling her things haphazardly together.

"I've got to get going – sorry, Hinata, but my parents need me home asap," Tenten muttered without looking at the others, very aware of the knowing look Temari shot at her behind the others' backs. "That's okay," Hinata said quietly, "I understand. I'll come open the door for you."

* * *

Tenten sighed with relief when she finally gained the peace of her bedroom. Her mother had insisted on subjecting her to the third degree when she'd arrived home so early, but had eventually admitted defeat when Tenten had refused to tell her anything aside from the prepared lie – that the party had ended early because Sakura wasn't feeling well.

Her heart was pounding, and butterflies were wreaking havoc in her stomach but she forced herself to take a quick shower, and, despite it being only a few minutes past nine, she quickly ran downstairs to tell her mother that she was taking the car.

On Sasuke's doorstep her courage wavered again but she quickly bent to retrieve the spare key from under the loose tile of the porch, and quietly let herself into the house before she changed her mind. A vague idea of surprising a half-asleep Sasuke had formed on her way over, and the more she'd contemplated the idea the more she'd liked it – he wouldn't notice the guilt she was sure was written on her features if he was still half-asleep.

She ran up the stairs as silently as possible but Sasuke's bedroom door was open and one glance inside showed her that the bed had not been slept in. She turned in confusion. _Where is he? _Quietly she made her way down the stairs again – it was doubtful that Itachi was there, he was rarely home – but she couldn't quite shake the feeling that she should be quiet. Slowly, she walked toward the living room, deep in thought – this wasn't going as she planned. When she rounded the couch Tenten stopped dead in her tracks, unable to believe her eyes. _Why does this keep happening to me? _she wondered distantly as she took in the scene in front of her with almost clinical detachment.

Sasuke and Sakura were fast asleep – her head on his lap, his arm resting along her back, hand draped over her hip. Tenten gasped out loud and clapped her hand over her mouth when Sasuke frowned and stirred a little. She backed away slowly, only allowing herself to breathe once she'd reached the porch again, and the front door was closed firmly behind her.

Tenten quickly ran back to the car. Why did this hurt so much? Surely she wasn't in any position to judge, but that didn't stop the anger from simmering in her veins and it didn't stop the sense of betrayal that ran through her body. This was entirely different from when Sasuke and Sakura had kissed – more intimate, somehow, and Tenten couldn't help the uncomfortable, peeping-Tom kind of feeling from mingling with the rest of her confused emotions – it had felt like she was spying on some really private moment. Plus, she was fairly certain that had she not stumbled onto that little scene, this time Sasuke would have taken the secret to the grave.

Her grip tightened on the steering wheel and without consciously making a decision she turned in the direction of Lee's house. Angry tears sprang into her eyes but that innate sense of fair-play that was such a big part of her thinking immediately spoke up – she had no right to feel this way. After all, how would it have looked to Sasuke had their positions been reversed and he'd seen her with Neji earlier that morning? It wasn't as if she'd caught them in flagrante delicto – they were fully dressed, the bed hadn't been slept in … abruptly the picture of Neji sitting up in his bed, shirtless, his hair mussed while the sheets were twisted around him, flashed into her mind and, painfully, she had to admit that, of the two situations, hers was definitely the most damning.

* * *

Hours later Tenten let herself back into the house. She'd spent most of the day crying on a very confused Lee's shoulder (she found that she just _couldn't _tell him what had happened but Lee being Lee he'd just allowed her to get it all out – she knew she'd have to tell him eventually but he hadn't pressured her for answers and she was quite content with leaving it at that). Finally, she'd judged it safe to return home, her parents had a dinner engagement and wouldn't be home – she didn't want to explain why her eyes were red and puffy.

Wearily she flopped onto her bed only to jump back up again when her phone started vibrating – she'd forgotten to take it out of her back pocket. Phone in hand she lay back down and focused her attention on the small screen.

_1 Message Received from Hyuuga Neji_. Tenten's heart jumped into her throat and, almost unwillingly, she read the message: _I need you. _She couldn't help but smile – typical Neji: direct and to the point, never afraid to say exactly what he thought. Her fingers moved of their own accord and the reply had already been sent before she realized what she'd just done. Tenten stared at the small letters that made up her response to what should have been an entirely unwelcome declaration. _I'm waiting._

Abruptly, all sense of impending doom evaporated when it hit home that _Neji_ was really on his way to see her, and that they would be completely alone. _Oh, god, okay, Tenten, calm down, _she told herself. She took a few deep breaths and then decided that calmness could be damned when she caught sight of the birds' nest that masqueraded as her hair. She firmly pushed all thoughts of Sasuke away as she rushed around her bedroom trying to make herself look presentable before Neji arrived, though some small, petty part of her couldn't help but feel justified in her actions: this time Sasuke deserved it!

* * *

**_A/N: I took a bit of liberty with their likes and dislikes here - hope it didn't bother anyone! Anyway, don't forget to click on the button below!!_**


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N: Thanks to everyone who read/reviewed/favorited/alerted!! Two chapters in one day – I'm so proud. Maybe I should have writer's block more often, seems like I'm twice as productive once it lifts ^_^ Anyway, I hope this makes up for the long time it took to update, and pleeeeaaaasssseee, please, pretty please REVIEW!**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything**_

* * *

_**Chapter 9**_

Sasuke woke slowly, and for a moment he was unable to understand why it felt as if his legs had fallen asleep and why he wasn't in his bed. The memories quickly returned once he woke up completely and he turned his head to look down at the still sleeping Sakura.

She looked … peaceful, and for the first time Sasuke was truly grateful that they'd managed to put the past behind them. She sighed and Sasuke's gaze was drawn to her mouth – and that was the entire problem. He wanted her- hell, he'd even admitted as much to her last night. Happy as he was that Sakura had forgiven him for his behavior, he had no idea how he was supposed to keep his hands off her now. And just when things had started to look up too!

For as long as he could remember Sakura had been a constant in his life – since he'd been a small child he'd just taken her presence for granted, some deep, hidden part of him had even assumed that one day they would get married – he'd never been able to imagine a life with anyone else. But then they'd hit puberty and, much as he hated to admit it, eventually all the attention he'd received from the female population had gone to his head.

Then, when he'd finally sorted out what he wanted – admitted to himself that he'd been in love with Sakura for most of his life and that it didn't seem about to change – she'd told him to get lost. And he had been – lost, that was. He hadn't quite known what to do with himself since. But Tenten had saved him from the lonely ache that ate away at a person until all they saw was darkness, and he owed her for that.

So why on earth was he lowering his mouth to Sakura's? Why was he kissing her and feeling as he'd never felt before in his life? He had no answer to his own questions but he couldn't lift his mouth from hers – not once she started to kiss him back, and Sasuke decided that right now he just didn't care about anything except the need to keep his lips connected with Sakura's – nothing bad could happen as long as their mouths stayed fused together.

He drew back to take a breath and Sakura slowly opened her eyes. Smiling shyly she reached up to tangle her fingers in his hair and Sasuke shifted so that he was lying next to her. "Morning," he whispered brushing his mouth over hers. "Morning," Sakura whispered back, and Sasuke was briefly hypnotized by the blood rushing to her cheeks – how was it possible for someone to look so beautiful while they were red in the face?

Abruptly Sakura's expression turned serious, "We can't do this," she whispered, her hands dropping to his shoulders and pushing lightly. Sasuke sighed, "I know." In a smooth motion he rolled off of her and pulled her to her feet after him. Drawing her close, he stared into her eyes for a long moment, "Can you wait for me?" he finally asked, "I need to make things right before…"

Sakura stared around her in confusion. From agreeing to be friends they'd gone to declaring themselves, all within the space of a few hours and the abruptness of events were a little disconcerting. She raised her chin, "Is that really what you want?"

"_Yes_." Sasuke stared at her intently, "I just need some time to … settle things." Slowly Sakura nodded, and when Sasuke turned away, she grabbed his arm to hold him back. "Just allow me to tell Tenten about last night – not about this morning, obviously – but about watching movies and falling asleep and all of that."

Green eyes clashed with onyx as Sakura stared Sasuke down, but finally he nodded, "Just … be careful what you say. She doesn't need to be hurt unnecessarily." She glared at him, looking offended, "She's my friend, Sasuke! Why would I want to hurt her?"

"Just saying," he muttered before he walked away. Over his shoulder he called to her, "I really need some coffee. Let's just have breakfast first then I'll take you home."

* * *

Sasuke frowned when the disconnected tone rang in his ear for the millionth time that day – he'd been trying to reach Tenten since he'd dropped Sakura off that morning but her phone just kept ringing and ringing. He sighed in frustration – what on earth was she doing that she was too busy to answer her phone? Could she still be with Hinata? It was already nine o'clock at night and he seriously doubted that a strict parent like Hiashi Hyuuga would allow the girls to extend the visit through another night.

Finally, he got to his feet, he'd just run by her house to see if she was home, maybe something was wrong with her phone – and he really _did _need to talk to her. He gathered all of his courage – it was going to be awkward facing Tenten after last night – especially since he couldn't say anything, couldn't resolve the situation, until Sakura had spoken to her. He'd made it clear to Sakura that if they were going to do this they would do it the right way – he didn't want Tenten to feel as if she was being dumped for someone else. Because that really wasn't how it was at all. Maybe in a different life Sasuke and Tenten could be together and be ecstatically happy, but in this life … in this life there existed spectres to haunt them – Sakura for him and Neji for Tenten, and he had finally admitted to himself that they both deserved better than settling for second best.

His keys glinted on the floor where he'd thrown them on his return and Sasuke bent to scoop them up. He was out the front door and already in his car by the time it occurred to him that Tenten might not be too happy with his unexpected appearance – but he shrugged the vague unease away as he started the engine.

* * *

Tenten moaned when Neji's mouth drifted down the curve of her neck. She'd intended to talk to him – to figure out what this_ meant_ – really she had, but she'd barely managed to straighten herself out a bit before Neji had appeared at her bedroom window. Silent as a ghost he'd lifted himself over the sill, as if they were ten years old again, and sneaking out to the tree-house they'd built with Lee, and then she was in his arms and he was kissing her and coherent thought fled. Again she'd had the curious sensation of disappearing – of being consumed – and the world had ceased to exist. There was only Neji and his warm mouth, his insistent hands.

Somewhere in the back of her mind had been the fleeting thought that it was really good that she and Neji lived only a few streets apart, because if he'd been any longer in coming she might have convinced herself to tell him to stay away, and then she would not be kissing Neji – wouldn't have had the confirmation that it really did feel _that _incredible when his lips touched hers.

A banging noise filtered through the fog that surrounded her brain, and Tenten frowned as she tried to place the sound. "Ignore it. They'll go away eventually," Neji murmured against her skin, trailing hot kisses down to the valley between her breasts and Tenten nearly forgot all about the sound, but it started up again, louder than before, and she finally realized that the annoying noise was someone banging on her front door.

She struggled against Neji for a moment before he rolled off of her, throwing himself onto his back next to her on the bed, a sigh of frustration billowing from between his clenched teeth. Tenten took his silence as a confirmation that he agreed with her – she couldn't _not _answer the door. It might be someone for her parents and the last thing she needed was questions asked about where she'd spent her evening.

_Oh, I was just making out with Neji – who, by the way, isn't my boyfriend – and that's why I didn't answer the door, Mother. _Just the thought had her wincing, and Tenten quickly jumped to her feet, straightening her clothes as she went.

"I'm coming!" she called out when the banging didn't stop and she'd just reached the door when a familiar voice stopped her in her tracks. "Tenten? I was beginning to worry!" Sasuke's voice was laced with irritation, but Tenten barely noticed over the thundering in her ears.

Sasuke, her _boyfriend_ Sasuke, was outside her front door, while Neji, _not _her boyfriend Neji, waited for her in her bedroom. _Oh, god, _Tenten frantically tried to smooth her hair down some more, tried her utmost to not look as if she'd just been thoroughly kissed.

"Tenten? Open the door," Sasuke's voice demanded and Tenten took a deep breath before she opened the door slightly. "Hi," she said brightly.

"God. Took you long enough," Sasuke muttered, moving forward to enter the house. "No!" Tenten nearly shouted as she quickly pushed the door back against Sasuke's hand. He stared at her incredulously. "What's going on?" finally a note of suspicion crept into his voice and Tenten frantically tried to come up with a reasonable lie. "Nothing! Um, just … you know, my parents … they're not here and I promised them that I wouldn't allow you into the house unless they were here, so …" she tried very hard not to wince at her lame excuse and Sasuke stared at her a moment longer before he shrugged slightly. "Fair enough. Your dad's still not over the couch incident?"

She seized on the excuse with relief, "Exactly! So, you know, I'd better not push it – they could be back at any moment." Tenten nodded vigorously, and breathed an inward sigh of relief when Sasuke dropped the subject entirely.

"I tried to call you a few hundred times today. Where were you?" _This just gets better and better, _Tenten smiled grimly, "Oh, you know – I just had some stuff to do. Sorry. I meant to call back but then I guess I forgot."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed again but before he could say anything more – before she had to lie to him again – Tenten quickly changed the topic, "So, um, did you need anything specific? Only, I really should get to bed …"

"Just wanted to talk, but nothing that can't wait – want to come over for Sunday brunch tomorrow? Itachi wants to take us out – he'll actually be home for a change," Sasuke rolled his eyes, but Tenten knew him well enough by now to know that he'd once idolized his big brother, and that the admiration hadn't really ceased – no matter how often Sasuke professed to hate Itachi.

"Sure. That sounds good," she responded, her tone softening slightly. Sasuke stared at her strangely again, but then he shrugged, "Okay. I'm glad you're okay. I'll pick you up at around ten tomorrow then?"

"Perfect," Tenten tried to breathe some enthusiasm into her voice but mostly she just felt relieved when Sasuke turned to go. She'd just started to believe that everything would be all right when Sasuke abruptly turned around again. "You're _sure _you're okay?" he asked again, concern lacing his tone, and Tenten nearly cried at the look on his face. "I'm fine," she whispered, reaching around the door to give his hand a quick squeeze. "We'll talk tomorrow, okay?" Tenten barely managed to force the words past the lump in her throat but thankfully Sasuke turned again and she watched in silence as he got into his car, started the engine and drove away.

Tenten closed the door slowly, and slid down its length to come to rest on the floor. As always she felt Neji's presence the moment he stepped into the hallway, and without raising her head she spoke up in a strong, clear voice. For the first time since the previous night she felt like herself again – seeing the caring in Sasuke's eyes had brought home what she was doing, and everything had just clicked back into place – she knew what she had to do. "I can't do this, Neji."

"What do you mean?" Neji dropped down to sit on his heels in front of her and she raised her eyes to his slowly. "I haven't actually told Sasuke anything yet," she admitted in a low voice, "I was going to, I swear but then I couldn't, and then I was going to tell _you_ but … well, you barely even said hello so I don't think I can really be held accountable for the fact that we haven't talked tonight."

Neji inclined his head, but his eyes were glinting dangerously and Tenten quickly forged ahead before he exploded and she never got a chance to explain. "I just … can't lie and cheat like this, it's not right. I don't want to hurt anyone – I don't want to hurt Sasuke, he deserves better than this. We can't just take what we want regardless of who gets hurt in the process."

She took a deep breath and waited for Neji's response. After a long silence he finally began to talk, and his voice was so cold that Tenten didn't even need to really pay attention to his words to get the gist of what he was saying. "I knew you hadn't told Sasuke yet before I came over tonight. I spoke to Lee this afternoon – he was worried that Sasuke had hurt you or something because you were damn near hysterical but wouldn't tell him what was wrong – and so I knew. I love you – but I'm done playing games. You're right – we _can't _just take what we want, that makes it meaningless anyway. So, the ball is in your court now, if you decide that you do want me after all, then you know where to find me."

By the time Tenten made it back to her bedroom Neji was already gone – he'd disappeared through the window as silently as he'd come – and if it hadn't been for the single daisy lying on her pillow (Neji must have plucked it from the flowerbed just below her window before he left) Tenten could almost have believed it had all been a dream.

* * *

Tenten breathed a sigh of relief when she entered the park with Sasuke the next afternoon. Brunch had been a success, but, as always, she was thankful to be out from under Itachi's searching gaze – it always felt as if he could see straight through her – as if he could read all her secrets like she was an open book. They'd left the restaurant, and Tenten had convinced Sasuke that a walk in the park was a good idea. She needed a neutral setting, with a certain degree of privacy, for the discussion she was about to initiate.

Sasuke made straight for the picnic tables and settled himself on top of one, his feet resting on the bench, and stared at her expectantly, "Okay, out with it. You've been like a cat on hot bricks all morning." She took a deep breath and sat down next to him, staring at her feet. She could feel the concern beginning to emanate from him when she stayed quiet and, finally, she gathered all her courage to look Sasuke square in the eye. "I want to break up."

His eyes widened and then narrowed, and Tenten quickly jumped in before he had a chance to speak, "I'm sorry, but I just … I can't be with you anymore. It's not fair. I saw you and Sakura Saturday morning, and I've done some things I'm not proud of myself this weekend, but I've thought about it long and hard, and I've decided that it would be best if we weren't together anymore."

"Look, about that – me and Sakura – I can explain…" Sasuke began but Tenten held up her hand, "No, it's okay. At first I was kind of hurt but if there's one thing I can understand then it's wanting someone so desperately that you make some bad choices. I care about both of you, and I only want you to be happy, and if you find that happiness with each other …"

Sasuke reached over and intertwined their fingers, the gesture so familiar that it brought comfort even as it stung. "But you and I – we've also made each other happy," he said quietly, "and we really were just sleeping. She came over – uninvited – on Friday night and we finally talked it all out – the past, the kiss, everything, and then we fell asleep."

His voice rang with so much sincerity that Tenten felt she was suffocating under the mass of guilt in her soul. "Sasuke," she blurted out before her courage failed her again – she hadn't intended on telling him about Neji, hadn't felt it necessary to hurt him, but now … Sasuke deserved the truth. "I kissed Neji," Tenten finished, unable to look him in the eye.

A long silence greeted her pronouncement, and finally Tenten dared to peek up at Sasuke. He looked a bit shell-shocked, but not angry. "I'm sorry," she cried, pulling her hand from his grasp and burying her face in her hands.

Slowly Sasuke nodded, once, twice, "And that's why you're breaking up with me?" he asked at last, just a trace of sarcasm in his tone. Frantically Tenten shook her head. "No," she mumbled from between her fingers. "I just feel like I've lost myself somewhere along the way, and I need to find myself again before I can really devote everything to a relationship – and that's what you deserve, Sasuke. You don't deserve to be lied to," she finished miserably.

Another long silence ensued, and then Tenten nearly fell off the table when Sasuke began to laugh. "What?" she asked, looking around in bewilderment. Sasuke just shook his head, as his shoulders continued to shake with repressed mirth. "What?!" Tenten demanded again. Maybe he was in shock? Shouldn't you hit someone who was in shock? She was still staring at him uncertainly when he finally took a deep breath, slung an arm around her shoulder, and said, "I forgive you, okay? So please stop feeling bad about it. I was laughing because it just hit me – the irony of the situation. We get together while trying to get back at Neji and Sakura, only to have them see the light the moment we'd decided to really give us a shot," he smirked at her but his tone was rueful, "and let's face it – it's all been down-hill since then."

Tenten slowly nodded, but when she continued to stare at him as if fearful for his sanity, Sasuke sobered and looked at her intently. "I won't deny that I still have feelings for Sakura, but, if you tell me, here and now, that you really want to give us another chance, then I promise that I will try my very best to make you happy. But I think that you deserve better than that – because in the long run we'll just be content. I can't make you feel the things Neji can," he added shrewdly.

"And I can't make you feel the things Sakura can make you feel," Tenten sighed, leaning her head on his shoulder. "No," Sasuke admitted quietly into her hair, "and don't you think we owe it to ourselves to find out if it's the real thing?" Tenten didn't answer - the question had been more rhetorical anyway, and for a long time they sat like that, allowing the peace of the afternoon to smooth the tangled feelings between them.

Then Tenten sat up, and said seriously, "I think I kind of love you." She smiled tremulously, and brushed his bangs out of his eyes. He smiled at her – the soft, sweet smile that she barely ever got to see, "I think I kind of love you, too."

Tenten threw her arms around his neck, and held on for a long moment, before she pushed herself away, kissed Sasuke lightly on the cheek in farewell, and left. Sasuke stood for a moment longer, watching her retreating figure before he, too, turned and headed off into the opposite direction.

* * *

"So, does that mean you're with Neji now?" Temari asked, the confusion apparent in her tone. "No," Tenten shook her head patiently, "I'm not with anyone right now, and I think it's better that way – for so long I was pining after Neji and then, suddenly, there was Sasuke, and I just feel like I've completely changed. Like I've become this person that I don't even really like, and I really just want to get myself back before I can even begin to contemplate being with Neji. And if he can't wait for me to sort myself out, then so be it – I'm through allowing him to rule my life, Mari."

Temari reached over to give Tenten's hand a quick squeeze – she knew how painful it must be for Tenten to consider losing Neji all over again, especially now she'd really found him – no matter how firm her resolve, it still wouldn't be easy. "Wow," she breathed finally staring around Tenten's bedroom as if searching for what to say.

Tenten had called her earlier that afternoon, and something in her friend's tone had warned her that the other girl was very close to breaking point, so she'd thrown tantrums, threatened suicide, claimed unfinished homework that only Tenten could help her with – had said and done anything and everything she could think of – until her father had finally given in and allowed her – just this once, mind – to sleep over on a Sunday night. The girls had been talking ever since Temari had arrived, and to say that she was shocked by all the recent developments would be an understatement.

Finally Temari shrugged helplessly, "It's just that, somehow, I've always imagined that you and Neji would wind up together in the end – and now you're talking about possibly letting him go forever." Tenten nodded slowly, "I think we all thought that – but stuff happens and you can't always predict where you'll end up, Mari. Me and Neji – we're not like you and Shikamaru. And I don't think we ever will be – but that's part of the appeal, I guess. Things between us will always be a little stormy, and, at this point, I'm just hoping that this won't be the one storm that we can't weather."

"How are you going to tell him?" Temari asked after another long silence, and Tenten smiled ruefully through the tears as she pleated the comforter between nervous fingers. "I'm not – I can't. Like a total coward I'm going to write him a letter. I'm just scared that, if I see him I won't be able to resist him."

* * *

Temari had long since fallen asleep but Tenten was still staring at the ceiling. Finally, she sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Quietly, so as not to wake the other girl, she walked to her desk and switched on the lamp. She settled herself in the chair, and stared at nothing in particular for a long moment before reaching for a sheet of paper and a pen.

_Dear Neji …._

_

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**A/N: This chapter just makes me want to cry. But I'm happy with the way the characters are developing, and I hope you are too! Let me know what you thought by hitting the review button below ^^!**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N: Thanks so so much to everyone who read/reviewed/alerted/favorited!! I'm really on a roll here ^_^ 3 chapters in 2 days, yay me!! I've just got one little thing to say before I leave you to read the chapter in peace: a few reviewers seem to be in favor of SasuTen. I'm sorry to say that we won't be seeing any SasuTen from here on out - or at least not in a romantic sense (I might do a different fic with this pairing though) as stated from the beginning the eventual pairings for this fic are NejiTen and SasuSaku. I hope I don't lose anyone because of this!  
Happy reading and PLEASE REVIEW! =)**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**_

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_**Chapter 10**_

_Dear Neji_

_I know that you deserve to hear what I have to say face to face, but __if I see you then I'm afraid my resolve will crumble, and so I'm taking the coward's way out. _

_My entire life__ I devoted so much of my time and energy to you that I'm only now realizing I don't even know who I am without you anymore. All else aside, we've always been friends, and this last year showed me what it would be like without you in my life – and I hated it, so I just want to tell you how sorry I am for my part in the entire situation._

_I really need you to know that I do love you – more than you'll ever know, and I want nothing more than to be with you, but I can't allow that to happen. It wouldn't be fair to you – not at this point. Everything is just so messed-up and I really need to take some time and just step back so I can sort through it all. I need to find out who I am and where I want to go before I can lose myself in you – how can you find me again if you don't know what to look for – I don't know, does that even make sense? _

_Anyway, I just wanted you to know how things stood – in the end we only had a couple of days together but I wanted to tell you that they were the most amazing of my life. _

_I'll understand if you'd rather avoid me after this but I really hope that you can understand where I'm coming from. I have no right to ask you to wait for me, so I won't. _

_I hope with all my heart that we'll find some way to weather this latest storm and, at least, stay friends._

_Love always,  
__Tenten._

Neji crumpled the piece of paper in one hand, staring at it with blank eyes. He was no stranger to pain – having lost his parents at a young age he knew what true sadness felt like - knew how it felt to lose someone. But this … this was beyond pain, beyond any feeling whatsoever. He was just … numb. He hadn't been in the best mood when he'd arrived at school to begin with, and he'd watched the white envelope fluttering to the ground with a premonition of disaster when he'd opened his locker a few minutes ago.

Slowly he unclenched his fist still staring at the piece of paper expressionlessly. Then he carefully placed it on top of the books resting on the bottom shelf of his locker and smoothed the wrinkles out, before folding it into a small square and putting it in his pocket. He slammed the door shut with only a slight bit more force than was strictly necessary and walked off – to everyone watching nothing out of the ordinary had taken place, but Neji knew that everything was different now.

The decision he'd put off making – because of Tenten – could now be faced, and, while he might be love's bitch at the moment, never let it be said that he didn't have the courage to face unpleasant facts. Neji smiled in grim determination – oblivious to the startled stares of the students who caught sight of the expression - if there was one thing he'd learned in his life then it was that time didn't stand still just because someone's feelings where hurt. Life went on, and now it was up to him to either get on the bandwagon and really start to _live, _or to curl up into a ball of defeat. When viewed in that light, it was the easiest decision in the world - Hiashi would be ecstatic.

* * *

Tenten sighed and listlessly took another bite of her apple before giving lunch up as a bad job when it stuck in her throat again. She'd delivered the letter via the vents of Neji's locker this morning, and, though she'd know that it was a long shot that he would understand – Neji wasn't particularly compassionate - she'd hoped nonetheless.

That hope had been crushed when she'd entered her second period class – the first time she would see Neji since Saturday night – only to have him stare right through her as if she didn't even exist. There had been no expression on his face whatsoever – no anger, no pain … just nothing … and that hurt worst of all. But she'd taken a deep breath and kept her eyes down, focused on the lesson and tried to ignore Neji, and, to her surprise, it had worked somewhat – enough for her to focus on what the teacher was saying anyway.

She'd decided to be diplomatic, and so she'd stayed away from the cafeteria, taking her lunch outside instead. This was her decision, and she didn't regret it, but she didn't want to create even more bad feelings between everyone. In the end, it had seemed best to just sit outside by herself and pretend to read.

A shadow fell across her book, and Tenten looked up in surprise. Her hand lifted automatically to shield her eyes so she could see who was standing over her – the glare of the sun turned the person into nothing more than a dark blob – and if she hadn't already been sitting down, she would've fallen over when she realized that it was Neji.

"I'm glad I caught you alone," he said stiffly. Tenten merely nodded, and Neji sat down next to her. "Look, I got the letter and I respect you decision - I want you to know that - but I also meant what I said, Tenten. I'm done playing games." His gaze was serious, and Tenten swallowed nervously. Neji looked away, "I think it would be best if we just left each other alone – for the time being anyway. I will always be your friend but I just can't be around you right now. I've got a lot on my plate, and I can't make the right choices if my thinking is clouded, so I would appreciate it if you could respect _my _decision."

Tenten took a deep breath but only nodded – she had no idea what to say, could only focus on the stabbing pain in her heart. Neji nodded slowly, "Thank you." He stood to go, and Tenten finally found her voice, "Neji…" but the words trailed off before they had begun when she realized that she still had no idea of how to articulate everything she was feeling.

Neji stopped, "It's okay, Tenny. I get it. I love you, too." He smiled sadly before quickly walking away, but Tenten couldn't move. No matter that she knew she'd made the right decision, at the moment she wanted nothing more than to run after Neji and beg him to never leave her again.

* * *

Sasuke smiled peacefully at Sakura on his right – for the first time in years it felt as if his world had righted itself. Everyone had just sort of naturally gravitated towards the same table once lunch time had rolled around, and the sound of Naruto's antics from his left only added to the generally festive atmosphere.

The only dark spot was the absence of Tenten, but Sasuke accepted that she probably didn't feel very comfortable with the entire situation as yet, and he wasn't about to pressure her, but he hoped that she could resolve whatever problems were keeping her away from her friends. True, he wasn't really crying about Hyuuga's absence (was he with Tenten?) but both Tenten and Neji were part of the group, they'd all grown up together and it seemed fitting that they would end their school careers together.

_Speak of the __devil_, Sasuke mused to himself as he caught sight of Neji entering the cafeteria as if he'd heard Sasuke thinking about him. Grudgingly Sasuke admitted admiration for the stoic façade – Neji never even blinked when he saw the newly merged table, simply headed right over to Lee's seat and ignored the rest of them.

Neji knelt down next to Lee, "Hey, I need you to do me a favor and run Hinata home this afternoon. I'm going to see about those forms after school." Lee stared at Neji open-mouthed, "Really? You're going to apply…?" words seem to fail Lee and at Neji's warning glare he snapped his mouth shut and nodded vigorously, "Yes, sure. Of course I'll take her home."

Neji nodded, "Thanks." He clapped Lee on the shoulder and unfolded from his crouched position. "I'll see you later." Without a word to anyone else Neji strode off.

Lee turned back to the rest of the table and looked very uncomfortable when everyone stared at him in avid curiosity. He quickly gulped down the rest of his sandwich while everyone continued to stare at him in expectant silence, and then jumped to his feet. "See you. Hinata – I'll meet you outside after last period." Hinata nodded but Lee had already walked off.

"Now what on earth is Neji applying for and why is it such a big secret?" Naruto spoke up finally, but the question was met with shrugs, and soon the conversation turned to a different subject.

* * *

Sakura shifted slightly from one foot to the other as she waited after ringing the doorbell – she'd waited all day for a chance to talk to Tenten, but the opportunity never arose and so she'd decided to stop by her house after school. "Hi," she said brightly when Tenten opened the door.

"Hi," Tenten replied warily, but she stood back to allow Sakura entrance. "I wanted to talk to you, if that's okay?" Sakura said, hesitating in the hallway. Tenten waved her toward the living room. "Go ahead, it's just me at home, so you can talk wherever."

Sakura nodded, but waited until they had both settled before she started to talk. "Look – I'm not going to insult your intelligence. You know why I'm here. I just wanted you to know that I _was _going to tell you about Friday night but you sort of beat me to it, and I just wanted to apologize … I didn't mean to hurt you."

For a moment Tenten stared impassively into Sakura's anxious green gaze, then she sighed, "I know, Sakura. And, really, it's fine. Things worked out the way they were supposed to, and I'm happy if you and Sasuke are happy. So please just forget about it, okay?"

Slowly, uncertainly, Sakura nodded, if everything was fine then why could Tenten barely look at her, and why was she being so … unTenten? Sort of listless …. Sakura shook her head to clear the thoughts, "Thank you, but are you sure we're okay? I don't know … you seem sort of angry – which you have every right to be! I want you to know that I consider you one of my best friends and I don't want to lose that."

Tenten buried her face in her hands and groaned, "Fine, I'll admit I wasn't exactly deliriously happy to see you with Sasuke, and I'm not going to lie – the whole situation sucks. But, please, I understand, I really do, and I'm not angry at you, so can we just let it go?"

"I just wanted to make sure that we're okay," Sakura replied quietly, and Tenten immediately flushed with guilt. "No, I'm sorry," she sighed, "I've just had a really bad day and now I'm taking it out on you, and I know that's not fair, and I really _would _like it if we could all just be friends," Tenten took a deep breath, throwing apologetic glances at Sakura every so often.

The other girl laughed, "No, it's fine – you don't need to apologize. I also just want us to all be friends again, so, it would be really great if you actually came to lunch," Sakura smiled slightly when Tenten blanched.

The mood lightened after that and they simply enjoyed the banter that flowed as it hadn't done in far too long. Eventually, when she took her leave, Sakura felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders. She had Sasuke, or, rather, things between her and Sasuke were progressing nicely. Tenten wasn't angry at her, and Sakura couldn't help skipping a little out of sheer happiness as she made her way home.

* * *

Neji exited the school laden down with papers – he'd spent the majority of his afternoon being inundated with information, and his head felt like it was spinning.

He reached his car, the only one still left in the lot, and juggled the papers as he tried to unlock and open the door one-handed. When he finally sank down into his seat, his breath huffed out and he dropped his head onto the steering- wheel. _Am I really going to do this? _His head was telling him that it was the right decision, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but that didn't stop his stomach twisting with indecision or his heart from skipping a couple of beats in apprehension. _If it's so right, then why does this feel so wrong? _

Neji finally lifted his head, and sighed before he started the car and slowly drove back home – he really wasn't looking forward to facing his uncle – the man would be ecstatic at finally getting his way, but Neji couldn't help but feel that if he took this final step, if he told his uncle about his decision, then there would be no going back.

* * *

**_A/N: The chapter is a bit short but everything that was supposed to happen is in there. Next chapter should be longer again! It's getting intriguing now, isn't it =) *winks* Don't forget to let me know what you thought! _**


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N: Thanks to everyone who read/reviewed/favorited/alerted!! I'm too upset about this week's manga chapter to be able to focus on SasuSaku and so I give you a chapter filled with NejiTen =) PLEASE REVIEW - it's what keeps me writing.  
Warning: If you don't like lemons, I strongly recommend you skip the last part of this chapter - don't say I didn't warn you ^^**_

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto_**

* * *

_**Chapter 11**_

_One month later…_

Tenten stared at the rain falling outside her window. _So much for summer_, she thought glumly. It had been raining for days now – ever since school had let out a week ago, in fact.

Added to that, she hadn't seen nor spoken to anyone since and the gloomy weather was beginning to weigh on her spirits. This was not how she'd envisioned her summer vacation – if you'd asked her a few months ago where she pictured herself come summer she would've replied that she was looking forward to a summer filled with sun and friends, but, as everything else in her life, that hadn't worked out.

She shook her head to clear the self-pity, but she was too late … the thought had inevitably led to Neji, and the bombshell that had been dropped on her head a week before school ended. She still couldn't quite believe it – she'd been sitting in homeroom (no one really had anything to do anymore, they were all just waiting for their final results) and she'd thought that it was a day like any other.

Lee, Temari, and Shikamaru had been engaged in a game of war, but Tenten hadn't felt like playing, so she was pretending to read. The intercom had crackled to life with the morning announcements and Tenten had listened with half an ear until Neji's name had caught her attention. She'd flown around to ask the other three, "What was that about congratulating Neji?" Temari had looked shocked, Shikamaru bored, and Lee … Lee had looked slightly guilty. Finally, she'd managed to threaten the entire tale out of Lee.

Tenten still couldn't believe it – not only was Neji graduating a year early, he'd also been accepted to Cambridge. Though her grades were good, Tenten had never fooled herself into believing that she would ever be accepted to the same schools that wanted genius Neji, but she'd always thought that the separation was in the far-off future. Or, at the very least, a year away, and she'd _never _thought they would be on different _continents_!

Still, this was an incredible opportunity for him, and so she'd tried her level best to be happy for him, but though everyone had been congratulating him with varying degrees of envy, Tenten seemed to be the only one who noticed that Neji didn't look very happy at the prospect either.

_Ugh! Stop thinking about Neji! _Tenten scolded herself, leaping up from her seat at the window. She was feeling lonely and restless, that was all. Hadn't she always known that there was a possibility that she would lose Neji for good when she'd made her decision? Maybe she just needed some fun. The problem was that Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto had gone on a two-week cruise as a summer present from Itachi, Temari had been occupied with her brothers and Shikamaru, and Lee had been spending time with Neji – where Tenten definitely wasn't welcome.

Tenten wandered through her silent house like a lost waif – much as she loved her parents she'd never thought she would miss them. Her mother had gone to visit her grandmother for the weekend, and her father had left to join them earlier that afternoon, but Tenten hadn't felt up to facing her parents _and _her grandparents so she'd claimed exhaustion from the school year and, thankfully, her parents had decided that she would be fine on her own for a couple of days.

She flopped down on the living room couch and started flipping through the channels. Night was falling but she wasn't hungry and she didn't bother to put on any of the lights – simply stared at the screen in a stupor. _Is this what clinical depression feels like? _she wondered distantly.

* * *

Hinata covered her younger sister, Hanabi's, ears as the two huddled together on her bed – of all the fights between Neji and Hiashi in the last month this one was by far the worst. Hinata had never thought that her dignified father would ever raise his voice in such a way, nor that the usually self-possessed and composed Neji would yell back, but she'd been proven wrong time and again.

Though she couldn't help but admire Neji for the guts it took to stand up to her father, she secretly wished he would just recognize that this was a losing battle. Hiashi expected far more from Neji than he did of his own two daughters – and sometimes she almost envied Neji that. The mere fact that Hiashi Hyuuga expected something from someone meant that he felt that person was worthy of his notice and, though she knew her father cared about her and Hanabi, it was nothing compared to the fierce pride he took in Neji's achievements.

"You _will_ go, if I have to drag you onto the plane myself!" her father thundered, and Hinata winced. "What do you care?" Neji's voice was just as loud, "What does it matter to you where I go or what I do?"

"You are a minor, and, as long as you are under my roof, you will do as I say!" Hiashi sounded on the point of exploding and Hanabi raised tear-filled eyes to her sister's. "Are they going to kill each other?" she whispered, but Hinata only drew her into a hug and didn't answer – she was very afraid that violence was exactly where all these _disagreements _were headed. Neji was normally very good at controlling his temper, but her father was better, and she couldn't help but feel that the day where Neji lost patience with the entire thing and just started throwing punches to get his point across wasn't very far off.

"I didn't ask to be under your goddamn roof!"

"Would you rather have been on the streets?!" Hiashi's voice was strangled with anger he was obviously struggling to control. "I have always treated you as my son, so don't…" He never got to finish his sentence. Neji's voice rose to a higher decibel level, if that was even possible - Hinata was surprised the roof didn't cave in.

"_You're not my father_!"

Dead silence descended and the silence was so malevolent that Hinata closed her eyes as she waited for her father's inevitable explosion. There was the sound of flesh striking flesh, and a grunt of pain, then the front door slammed so loudly that the glass in Hinata's window panes trembled, and Hinata cringed again. _Maybe Neji went too far this time._ But the thought remained unvoiced, as she rubbed slow circles on the now sobbing Hanabi's back.

* * *

Tenten was back at the window again – somehow it was less boring to watch the rain pouring down than it was to watch commercials. She cupped her chin in her hand and stared with unseeing eyes into the distance, wondering if Neji had planned on leaving without saying goodbye…

A movement just outside her window caught her attention, and Tenten jumped in shock, fear flooding through her body. _A burglar?_ She peered hesitantly through the gloom, and when the figure moved into the light from the streetlamp, she gasped.

She'd never seen Neji looking so … lost and helpless. He was soaked to the bone, the water running off his body in small rivulets but he didn't seem to even notice, or care. Tenten was frozen as she stared into his eyes – caught in his gaze - but then she sprang into action.

Moments later she had Neji in her bathroom. She gently threw a towel over his head and rubbed the excess water from his hair. "You'll catch your death," she whispered, dropping the towel, and pulling his shirt over his head. Tenten stared worriedly at the slight bruising on his cheek, at his split lower lip, but Neji simply stood there – his eyes full of emotion, and offered no resistance to her ministrations.

Recognizing that he'd reached the absolute end of his tether Tenten held back on all the questions that were burning in her mind. Neji swayed a little, and she moved under his arm to support him, drawing him gently into her bedroom where he collapsed onto her bed and stared blankly ahead. Then his eyes closed slowly and Tenten felt her own knees buckling when one small, soundless tear rolled from the corner of his eye onto her pillow.

Instinctively Tenten moved to lie down beside him, wrapped her arms around him from behind, and in silence allowed him to draw comfort from her presence.

* * *

It was still dark when Neji jerked awake, the threatening feel from the already fading dream pervading his mind and for a moment he couldn't place where he was – but there was a reassuring warmth at his back, and he instinctively knew that he was with Tenten. When he relaxed the memories started to flood back, and Neji winced when he raised a hand to his mouth before gingerly touching his cheek.

It didn't seem too bad – it hardly hurt at all any more – it was more the blow to his pride that had him cringing internally. He'd just been so shocked when Hiashi had hit him, and then he'd been so angry that he'd literally seen red, so he'd quickly left before he was driven to murder. Neji knew that it was the right thing to have done – but that didn't mean that he wasn't humiliated by the fact that he'd run away rather than standing his ground and fighting, and the humiliation was only compounded by the helplessness he felt.

Slowly, so as not to wake Tenten, he rolled over so he could look at her sleeping face. He'd walked for hours yesterday before finding himself in front of her house at last, long past moonrise. By that time he'd been so cold and wet, so numb, that he couldn't find the strength to walk away – as he knew he should. But he'd been too weak in that moment and he'd craved nothing more than the warmth of her presence, and so he'd moved into the light when he saw the curtains swaying in her bedroom window.

Neji reached out and brushed a strand of dark hair away from her eyes, allowing his fingers to linger on the softness of her cheek. _I don't want to leave you, _he admitted silently to the sleeping girl, _I don't know if I can. _In the aftermath of his and Tenten's last conversation, he'd decided that school really wasn't the place for him anymore – the guidance office had informed him the week before that he was eligible to graduate at the end of the semester – he'd never even noticed his credits piling up - and it had seemed like just the change he'd needed. He was already bored with his coursework, and, cowardly as it was, he just hadn't been able to face the prospect of seeing Tenten every day – not if there was an alternative.

Of course, he'd been thinking of starting at the university just outside of town come fall, but the moment he'd informed his uncle of his decision to graduate, Hiashi had taken it upon himself to try and push Neji in the direction of every prestigious university in the world. Mentally Neji kicked himself yet again for allowing his uncle to talk him into submitting applications abroad – then again, he hadn't actually thought he'd get _in_! He'd thought that he would be safe since all of those schools were bound to have already allocated all their places for the next year. Neji was sure his uncle had called in a few favors to get him accepted to Cambridge - but that was a moot point now.

Neji sighed, and tried to force his thoughts away from the entire topic. He couldn't think of any way out of this situation, it seemed he really _would_ be bundled onto a plane, like a petulant child, whether he wanted to go or not. He slowly trailed his hand down Tenten's neck and over her shoulder in a long, lingering caress. His mind screamed at him that this was totally wrong, but his body and his heart were telling him that this was _exactly_ right, and Neji decided that he'd had enough of listening to his head – just look where that had gotten him!

He angled his neck and slowly, softly, brushed his mouth along Tenten's. She sighed and Neji deliberately moved his lips over hers until she sleepily opened her eyes. He kept his gaze locked with hers as he moved forward to press his lips firmly against hers again. Her eyes drifted shut, and her mouth trembled beneath his. When he finally drew away for breath, she smiled at him and slowly lifted her hand to touch next to where his lip had been split before trailing her fingers over his bruised cheek - little butterfly touches.

Neji turned his head away, "It's nothing." He was very grateful when she didn't push for answers, only drew his head down to brush a soft kiss along his lip and then his cheek. He turned swiftly and captured her mouth in a desperate kiss, ignoring the slight throb, the metallic taste on his tongue, and rolled over onto his back taking her with him. His hands ran down her body in hungry sweeps even as the kiss gentled, but soon this wasn't enough to satisfy his need, and he rolled over again. Pushing a knee swiftly between hers to part her legs, Neji angled his body over hers, taking his weight onto his arms as he deepened the kiss again.

Tenten moaned softly when his hips came to rest in the cradle of hers, and buried her hands in the length of his hair, and from somewhere far away Neji knew he had completely lost control but he couldn't find the will to care. He shifted his weight onto one elbow and let his other hand trail down the side of her thigh until he reached her knee, and in a smooth motion he lifted her leg and wrapped it around his waist. Her other leg followed in automatic response and Neji grunted when she bucked her hips against him.

He pushed her shirt up and transferred his kiss to the pebbled tip of one full breast and his body jerked – strained against the confines of his pants – when Tenten cried out as he sucked her into his mouth. Without lifting his mouth Neji coaxed her back into arching so he could remove the top entirely, his hands stroking almost reverently over the silky skin it revealed.

He switched his attention to the other breast, reveling in her touch as she trailed her hands down his back, around, and over the tensed muscles of his chest. Neji kissed his way back up to her mouth, biting and sucking on the soft skin as he went, and one hand brushed over her quivering stomach to slip below the waistband of her shorts.

Tenten's body tautened like a bowstring, but Neji lifted his head to stare into her equally passion dazed eyes, "Let me touch you," he whispered raggedly, and immediately took advantage of her surrender when she relaxed against the pillows. His fingers stroked softly over her wet folds and Tenten gasped for breath and arched into his touch when he allowed his thumb to circle slowly over the bundle of nerves. With no warning he plunged two fingers into her wet heat, and Tenten's back came off the bed again, "N-Neji." Her head was tossing from side to side, and Neji didn't think he'd ever seen a more inviting sight – felt anything more incredible - but then she bucked her hips hard, and pushed him onto his back in the same motion.

Neji stared up at Tenten in surprise, and she smiled mischievously as she traced patterns on his chest, "Let _me _touch _you_." He helped her slide his pants over his hips, legs scissoring as he quickly kicked them off, and bit his lip – this time thankful for the slight, distracting sting – when her soft fingers closed hesitantly around his aching length. Tenten leaned over him again, tracing his lips with her tongue, "Show me," she whispered, and Neji reached between their bodies to guide her hand slowly up and down. She soon caught on to the motion, and Neji let his hand fall to his side, fisting it in the sheets as his head tossed back and he tried to keep the sounds of pleasure locked inside his throat.

Tenten stared at Neji's flushed features with fascination as he writhed beneath her touch – she'd never felt so powerful before in her life, never seen anything more beautiful than Neji losing control. Suddenly he clamped a hand down on her wrist, stopping her movements, and Tenten raised her eyes to his in confusion. His heavy-lidded gaze had her shivering in anticipation and she slowly drew back but before she was quite sure what was going on, she was on her back with Neji looming over her again.

Their mouths met and clung, and Tenten totally lost herself in his kiss. Some part of her noticed when he removed the last of their clothes, but it was a far-off part, and all she really cared about was the way Neji's mouth and hands felt on her body. Their breaths were coming in hoarse pants as Neji settled heavily between her spread legs but she felt no fear - only expectation. The slight sting when he pushed into her in one smooth thrust was quickly subsumed by the mounting pleasure as their movements turned frantic. Soon quick, shallow thrusts became deep and hard, and Tenten could hear her own voice cracking as nearly incoherent pleas fell from her lips – but what she was asking for she had no idea.

Something inside her was tightening and her hips started moving in time with Neji's of their own accord as the coil stretched, snapped ... Neji slammed his hips forward harder than before, burying himself deep inside her body as he groaned through his release, and Tenten was swept away in a wave of pleasure so intense she thought she saw stars.

Neji's arms were trembling and he slowly lowered himself completely onto her. Tenten's arms came around him, holding him close, and he buried his face in her neck. Their breathing slowed and Neji whispered a muffled "I love you" before rolling onto his back and drawing her tightly against his chest. Tenten pressed a soft kiss over his heart, "I love you, too." Her words were still echoing through his mind, a contented smile pulling at his lips, when sleep washed over him again, and this time, his rest was undisturbed, his dreams filled with Tenten's smile and the touch of her soft skin against his own.

* * *

**_A/N: I have no idea when the story took such a turn for the dark, but I finally know exactly where this is all headed, and I can't wait to share that =) ... so, please REVIEW!!_**


	12. Chapter 12

_**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews!!! It made my day =) This chapter is still focusing solely on NejiTen, but I'll try my best to get some SasuSaku into the next one. It's also very short (I'm sorry!) but this is how the story has to flow and who am I to argue with the muse, lol. Please don't forget to let me know what you thought!! I simply ADORE reviews ^^**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**_

* * *

_**Chapter 12**_

It was with severe reluctance that Neji allowed Tenten to talk him into going back home late Saturday afternoon – after a day spent with her in his arms he had less than no desire to ruin his blissful state by facing his uncle again.

Neji frowned when he entered the foyer and noticed the luggage lying at the foot of the stairs – there were far too many bags for one of Hiashi's business trips … the realization hit him at the same time that he caught sight of his uncle coming down the stairs, and the world reeled as rage boiled through his veins.

He bit his lip, using the slight pain as a focal point for his anger, and for a moment it seemed as if he would be able to reign in his temper, but then Hiashi reached the bottom of the staircase and all Neji's good intentions flew out the window.

"Goddamnit," he snarled, as he whirled around and, with no other outlet for his emotions, he threw a punch at the wall next to the front door so hard that the plaster cracked. Not looking at his uncle, Neji wrenched the door open again, and he only had one foot out the door when Hiashi spoke up from behind him, his tone insufferably calm, "Half an hour, Neji. Don't make me come and get you."

* * *

Tenten opened the door but the teasing words on the tip of her tongue were never uttered when she caught sight of the bleakness in Neji's eyes – something was obviously very wrong. Her eyes dropped from his and she gasped at the blood dripping from his bruised knuckles. "Neji! Your hand…"

She drew him into the house and made him hold his injured hand over the kitchen sink. While she rushed around trying to find bandages, Neji kept quiet but once she bent over his hand again, washing it gently, he spoke up, "Hiashi is waiting for me back at the house – I'm all packed and ready to go apparently."

Tenten's hands stilled on his and she took a deep breath before replying, "But the semester doesn't start for another couple of months, right?" Neji jerked his hand out of her grasp, "Right. But I'm not going – so he can just wait until hell freezes over!"

She placed her hand on his arm, and Neji pulled her into his arms with jerky movements, "I don't want to leave you," he whispered into her hair, and Tenten closed her eyes, resting her cheek against his chest until his heartbeat slowed and his breathing evened out. She pulled back and said seriously, "I know, but you have to go, Neji. This is an incredible opportunity – don't pass it up. Go. It makes your uncle happy, it ensures that you have a good future, and it's not forever – you'll be home again for Christmas."

Neji stared into her eyes intently, "Long distance relationships never work out well," his voice was quiet and Tenten smiled sadly up at him, trying to fight back the tears. "I'm your friend, Neji. Nothing more – not at this point - so don't give up this chance for me." For a long moment they stared at each other in silence – communicating through wordless glances. Finally, Neji nodded slowly and the bitter twist to his mouth wasn't lost on Tenten but she forced herself to stay still as Neji turned and slowly walked out of her house – and her life.

It wasn't until three days later, once the reality of the situation had really begun to sink in, that Tenten remembered. In the passion of the moment, protection had been the furthest thing from both their minds …

* * *

Tenten clung to Temari's hand, staring fearfully at the shelves in front of them. "Does it really matter?" Temari sighed, reaching toward the shelves, but Tenten refused to let go of her and she turned to her friend and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Tenten. Just pick one. I promise it won't make any difference." But her hands were gentle when she stroked over her friend's hair, and she nodded encouragingly to the other girl. "You're right," Tenten's breath whooshed out and she reached around her friend to grab a couple of boxes.

They made it back to the car with no further problems and once they were on the road again Temari turned to Tenten who was pale as a sheet and clinging to the door handle as if her life depended on it. "Are you okay? I mean, really?" she asked in concern.

Staring straight ahead, Tenten nodded vigorously, "Fine. Just fine. I'll be even better once tomorrow morning arrives, though." Temari kept her eyes on the road, and didn't reply – the truth of the matter was she felt just as worried as Tenten looked.

* * *

Neji stumbled into his off-campus apartment at 3 am, and promptly tripped over the comforter that hung half off his unmade bed. The good thing about arriving here before the semester had even begun was that he had a chance to get acquainted with the other students who shared the building, and the other good thing was that the bars in the surrounding areas didn't pay too much attention to the laws regarding drinking ages.

He fell back onto his bed after picking himself up off the floor, and threw an arm over his eyes. After his uncle had seen him settled into his (dark and dingy) apartment (and after Hiashi had made sure to give his passport to the dean of admissions so that Neji couldn't just up and leave on the next plane) Neji had slowly begun to make peace with his surroundings. He'd even settled into a kind of routine – he'd sleep until the worst of the hangover had worn off, eat, shower, and then find another drinking partner for the evening.

But the near permanent stupor he found himself in, did nothing to alleviate the loneliness – and he missed his old life more than he'd ever thought possible when he'd first begun to consider graduating early. If he was totally honest with himself, he missed Tenten – and Lee – but mostly Tenten. He'd been utterly unable to get the images of the night they'd spent together out of his mind - sleep was consistently disturbed by erotic replays of what they had done – and Neji was sure that if something didn't give soon he would be driven mad.

Silent curses aimed at his uncle ran through his mind in a long string but it did nothing to make him feel better, and Neji gave up on the effort of thinking up new ones when he ran out, and simply turned over and fell asleep.

* * *

"It just breaks my heart to see her like that," Sakura said, as she entered Sasuke's living room. Everyone had gathered for a little end-of-summer celebration, but the proceedings were marred by the absences of Neji and Tenten. Sakura placed the plate of snacks on the table and she'd barely withdrawn her hand before Choji reached over and grabbed a handful of chips.

"I know," Temari agreed, irritably running a hand through her hair. "Has anyone had any luck reaching Neji?" she turned to Hinata who flushed to the roots of her hair. But her voice was surprisingly strong when she answered, "Like I've told you before – doesn't look like Neji wants to talk to any of us. He's not taking my father's calls either."

Lee groaned, and dropped his head onto his hands, "Well, it can't go on like this! Tenny's just … pining away." For a moment everyone stared at each other in silence, but then Hinata spoke up again, "I-I have a r-really b-bad idea," she said twisting her fingers together. "What kind of 'bad idea'?" Naruto asked suspiciously.

"W-well … we need to shock Neji into action … he needs to be motivated to come home. You didn't see him when he left – it was like his spirit had been broken. But I know my cousin, and he doesn't give up that easily, so we just need _him _to realize that. Galvanize him into fighting again, as it were," Hinata was more animated than anyone had ever seen her and the rest of the room stared at her in amazement. She blushed slightly but continued, "So … my really bad idea will try to do just that," she sent a hesitant look at Temari, "but, for my idea to work, I'm going to need some details…" her voice trailed off and she began to blush as only Hinata could.

Temari stared at her, eyes wide, and then she fell back against the couch cushions, "I can't tell you stuff like that! She trusts me!" Hinata held her hands up in a conciliatory gesture, "I don't need a graphic layout! But I really think that this is the only thing that will get through to Neji … and Tenten has to talk to him _sometime_…" her voice trailed off again as she stared pleadingly at Temari, "Just … is there any possibility that Tenten could – believably – be … you know," this time the blush seemed to choke her and she fell silent as she stared at her hands. Everyone turned to look at Temari – most of the boys looked highly confused – and she shifted uncomfortably and avoided looking at anyone. Finally she opened her mouth, "There is, okay? More than just a believable possibility," she added, almost under her breath, looking worried. Hinata glanced up, still blushing, and turned to Sasuke, "I think you should…"

Sasuke stared at her impassively for a moment before he nodded, "Got it." He immediately pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed the number Hinata read to him, while Temari glared uncomfortably out the window, aware of the gazes that were shifting from her to Sasuke to Hinata in a flowing circle. They waited in silence as Sasuke made the call, and despite the fact that she knew what was coming, Hinata couldn't help but jump at the venom Sasuke injected into his tone when he started to speak.

"Hyuuga … pick up your goddamn phone … or don't you care that your child will be raised a Uchiha?"

* * *

_**A/N: Hmmm … I'm not too sure about this chapter – it's a definite part of the plot but I'm not 100% certain that it came out the way I wanted it to – so please feel free to tell me if you have any suggestions for improving it! I'm not adverse to a re-write, but the general gist of the story is in there, and I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading, and PLEASE REVIEW!**_


	13. Chapter 13

_**A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews/alerts/favorites! I try to respond to each one. Those that review anonymously - unfortunately I can only thank you here and hope that the chapter answers your questions! As promised, this chapter is longer than the last (doesn't take much) and I hope that it lives up to your expectations – I've gotten a lot of feedback about Neji; it seems as if most readers are actually favoring Sasuke at this point (how did I manage to make him likeable ???) Neji hasn't been a very nice person in this story, has he? I hope that this develops his character a bit more. Let me know what you thought! Reviews equal faster updates ^^ Happy reading and don't forget: REVIEW!**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto **_

* * *

_**Chapter 13**_

Neji stared at the phone lying at his feet in disbelief. Maybe he was still drunk – or dreaming – because there was_ no_ way that the message he'd just listened to could be real. Slowly he bent down to pick up the small object and hesitantly hit the button to listen to the message again.

"_Hyuuga … pick up your goddamn phone … or don't you care that your child will be raised an Uchiha?" _

No, that was very definitely Sasuke's voice, and he was definitely talking about a child … Neji sank down onto the bed, his elbows on his knees, and his hands buried in his hair. _Tenten's pregnant? _That just couldn't be right. The images he'd been so unsuccessful at repressing flashed in front of his mind's eye again – Tenten writhing beneath him … the feel of her surrounding him – and Neji groaned. He'd never given protection any thought – he'd been far too lost in the way she felt and responded, but now he was, rather forcibly, reminded of his irresponsible actions.

He ran shaking hands through his hair, frantically trying to wrap his mind around the idea … but found that he just _couldn't. _He wasn't ready to be a father – had the suspicion that he'd be horrible at it anyway – but at the moment all he could really focus on was the fear. If _he _was feeling like this he could just imagine the state Tenten must be in and … _Tenten. _The image of Tenten with a child – _his _child – wouldn't fade, and Neji swore softly when the mental picture was ruined by the appearance of Sasuke in the scene – a happy little family.

Neji reached for his phone again, pressed the appropriate buttons for a return call, and firmly put all else from his mind. He was damned if he'd allow Sasuke to take what was his! The line connected, rang a couple of times, and went over to voicemail. Neji quickly glanced at the clock, and realized that it was the middle of the night for them. The tone beeped and Neji took a deep breath, "Stay away from Tenten."

* * *

Hours later Neji firmly took a hold of his frantic thoughts and emotions, before dialing his uncle's number. He hadn't been able to see any way past this – he was going to have to swallow his pride … the line connected and his uncle's voice barked "Hyuuga."

"I need your help," Neji admitted through gritted teeth. On the other end of the line Hiashi's tone changed to one of surprise, "Neji? What's going on? Don't tell me they arrested you for underage drinking again!"

"No," Neji cut in quickly, "this is really serious. And I need you to come and get me since I can't get to you without a passport."

Hiashi seemed to catch on to the seriousness of Neji's tone and his voice was low when he finally answered, "I'll be on the next plane."

The line disconnected, and Neji breathed a sigh of relief: stage one complete. He threw his phone onto the bedside table and began to gather up all of his scattered belongings – though he knew that it could take his uncle days to arrive he wanted to be ready, and there was no time like the present to start cleaning up his act.

* * *

The door flew open before Hiashi had a chance to knock, and Neji motioned his uncle into the now clean apartment. Since he'd received the phone call announcing his uncle's arrival at the airport he'd been on edge waiting for him to arrive.

Wordlessly his uncle sat down and accepted the cup of tea Neji proffered. After he'd taken a sip, he sat back and rubbed a hand over his eyes before he spoke, "Care to tell me why I've been travelling for the last few days, dropping everything else, when you don't seem to be on the verge of death or prison?"

"I have to come home," Neji sat down across from his uncle and stared him straight in the eye. Hiashi sat up again, looking irate, "Neji, we've had this conversation-"

"No, you don't understand," Neji cut in, "I have to come home because … because there's a good chance that I'm going to be a father." Against his will, his eyes dropped and his voice wavered at the last words, and he waited in the suddenly charged silence for his uncle to respond. Finally he couldn't take it anymore and raised his eyes to his uncle's again, his voice defensive, "I'm not lying – it's not a trick-"

"You are many things, Neji – and some of them may border on delinquency – but you're not a liar," his uncle's quiet tone and shell-shocked expression silenced him again, and wordlessly he waited for the rest. At last Hiashi sighed, "How could this have happened?"

"Um…" an uncharacteristic blush spread on Neji's cheeks and Hiashi sighed again before saying dryly, "That was a rhetorical question, not a request for a diagram." Neji could feel even more blood rushing to his cheeks, and he dropped his eyes again. He could hear his uncle shifting in his seat, could hear the liquid in the cup sloshing, and still he couldn't think of what to say. Suddenly, the main thing he felt was … shame.

"When you came to take me from that foster home they'd put me in after my father died … I was truly thankful, and I promised myself that I would make you and my father proud, but I've ruined that – before this even – and I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. I'm not asking for handouts or anything else than just help in getting home – I swear I'll repay every penny as soon as I've gotten a job…" Neji's voice trailed off uncertainly – he'd never expected to feel this way again – had promised himself that his fate would never again rest in the hands of others.

Hiashi sighed, "Neji, don't be ridiculous – of course, I'm disappointed in you, not to mention angry at you, but I'm not going to disown you," he glared at his nephew until Neji dropped his eyes to the floor again, "How could you have been so irresponsible!" Hiashi stood and began to pace the length of the small apartment, "What do you want to do – if it is true? I assume you have considered the possibility that this girl, whoever she may be, could just be looking for a meal-ticket – you're sure you're the father?"

Neji nodded, "It's not like that – and, trust me, if it's true … if she is … pregnant," Neji took a deep breath – just saying the word filled him with terror, "I'm definitely responsible – I- I was … the first." Neji winced, but Hiashi had already reached for his cell phone. Neji eyed his uncle apprehensively but then fell back against the couch cushions in relief when it became apparent that Hiashi was ordering his assistants to arrange for another seat on the return flight.

Hiashi ended the call and turned back to Neji, his face grave, "For your sake, I hope you're wrong about this – and right now the important thing is establishing the truth of the matter – but, as soon as things are a bit more settled, you and I are going to have a serious talk."

Neji bit back the groan and nodded – grateful that his uncle was willing to help somewhat – and got to his feet. "I'll just get my stuff together." Then he fled before his uncle could ask anymore questions.

* * *

Tenten reached for her phone to switch it off – whoever kept calling just couldn't take the hint apparently. She squinted at the small screen, and nearly fell off her bed when she saw the name on the caller ID. Quickly she pressed the button but then her movements turned hesitant as she raised the phone to her ear and whispered an uncertain hello.

"Thank god!" Neji sighed when her voice finally came on the line, "Ten, look I can't really talk now, but I'm at the airport and on my way home, so I'll see you soon – we really need to talk." Tenten nodded, too shocked to be able to talk, before she remembered that he couldn't see her, and she cleared her throat before replying, "O-okay-"

Before she had a chance to say more Neji interrupted, "They're calling for me to board, I've got to go." And then he was gone. For a long time Tenten simply stared at the phone in her hand in complete disbelief, wondering if she'd dreamt the entire call, but eventually it sank in that Neji was coming back to her and for the first time since he'd left she could see the silver lining to the dark cloud.

* * *

Neji opened the door the moment Tenten knocked, and for a moment they simply stared at each other, both at a loss for what to say, but then Neji reached out and pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly against him, and it was as if the time apart simply melted away.

He drew her inside without letting go of her hand, and led her through to the living room. Tenten glanced around curiously, but Neji shook his head, "We're alone."

Tenten started and stared up at him in surprise, but Neji started pacing around the room a frown of concentration marring his features. She took a deep breath, "Neji, why-"

He stopped and held up a hand, "No, please, let me just get this out first." Tenten nodded, still mystified but for the moment she was content to just listen to his words, to watch him move.

Neji abruptly stopped his pacing and sat down on the edge of the coffee table in front of her, taking her hands, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything. For the way I treated you, for all the hurtful things I've said – and I don't blame you for thinking that I only used you whenever it suited me." He raised his eyes to hers, "I don't have any excuse for my behavior, and I won't insult you by pretending that I do. The truth is – I was so sure of my own greatness, I let my arrogance get the better of me, and then I was just jealous. I lashed out at you because I was hurt that you would choose Sasuke and I wanted to hurt you back. Again, I have no excuse."

He took another deep breath, "But most of all I'm sorry for my selfishness. The night we spent together … I-I took what I wanted with no thought for you – of how it would affect you, and I'm so sorry for that. I never meant to hurt you…"

Neji's voice trailed away as he searched for words and Tenten took the opportunity to interrupt, "Neji, you don't have to apologize – you didn't do anything that I didn't want you to," her voice was gentle but Neji still grimaced and shook his head.

"That doesn't make it right, Tenten. But I can't change that for you, no matter how much I wish I could, and I know you must hate me – I don't blame you for that," his hands tightened around hers and Tenten stared at Neji in confusion. His eyes were filled with resolve, and Tenten couldn't shake the feeling that there was clearly something she was missing.

"I want you to know that I will always be there for you. Whatever you want or need – it's yours. And I will understand if you don't want me to be a part of your life, but if you'll have me, I swear I'll spend the rest of my life making up for ruining yours." Neji took a shuddering breath, and Tenten quickly took the chance to interrupt again. "Neji, you haven't ruined my life-"

Before she got any further Neji started to speak again, "Tenten, I love you. More than anything. Please give me a chance to prove that to you. Though, god knows, my past behavior doesn't exactly give you any incentive to do that. But I've changed. I want to be better. For you," Neji sat up straight and looked her firmly in the eye, "I'm begging you, please let me be a part of this – let me be a part of your life," _and not Uchiha, _he added to himself but thought better of bringing that into the conversation just yet.

Tenten stared at her hands, confused beyond belief, but one thing she was sure of was that Neji was telling her that he loved her, that he was sorry, and that he wanted to change _for her_. She sighed, "Neji. You idiot. Did it escape your notice that I loved you even when you were at your worst? When you were proud, cold, insensitive and sarcastic? I love you the way you are – because I _know _you. I know that's not all there is to you – you don't give your love easily, or your trust, but when you do, you give completely, and forever, and that makes all the rest endurable," she grinned at him to show the last comment wasn't really serious, and was relieved when he smiled back slightly, hesitantly, but then he sobered again.

"Does that mean that you'll let me … that you want to be with me?" he asked seriously, and again, Tenten felt as if there was something she was missing. Slowly she nodded, "Yes, Neji. I want to be with you."

With a sigh of heartfelt relief Neji flopped down beside her, drew her into his arms and kissed the top of her head, "Thank you. For having faith in me. I don't know if I'll be any good at it, but I promise I'll try to be everything a husband and father should be…"

Tenten flew upright, struggled out of his arms, and turned to stare at him with wide eyes, "What?!" Neji stared back in confusion, but elaborated patiently, "We'll get married, of course, what did you think I would do? Just let you deal with being a single parent?"

She shook her head vigorously, "Neji – I … think I'm confused. You think I'm pregnant?" Neji looked as bewildered as she felt, "You're not?" he asked.

"No! I mean, I thought I was for a while there, because I was a bit late - but turned out it was a false alarm – and how did you know about that anyway? I never told anyone I was worried."

Neji sat forward, cupped her face in his hands, and said seriously, "I need to really hear you say it. You're not pregnant? Seriously not pregnant?" Tenten stared into his eyes before firmly replying, "Neji. I'm not pregnant."

He let go of her and fell back against the pillows, hands over his face, "Thank god." He dropped his hands and added hastily, "Not that I don't want you to be the mother of my children … but, someday, you know? Not right now – when I'm not in any position to take care of you." Suddenly his face split in a wide grin, and he buried a hand in her hair, pulling her closer, and kissed her passionately. Tenten pushed him away, shaking her head, "Wait. Wait. Does this mean that you still meant what you said before? About wanting to be with me?" she stared at him warily.

"I was talking about us the whole time, Ten," he answered gently, "With or without children, that's how I feel about you. And I know it took me a long time and a lot of mistakes before I reached that point, but I know what I want now and that will never change."

He reached for her again, and this time Tenten let him pull her closer, allowed his lips to move gently over hers, opened her mouth when his tongue stroked along the seam of her lips, and simply gave herself over to the kiss. He'd never kissed her this way before – softly, sweetly - a kiss that confirmed all that he'd said. He drew away and Tenten realized that she needed to breathe as she slowly opened her eyes.

Neji barely gave her a chance to catch her breath before he gathered her closer for another kiss, that melted into yet another and then another. Their breathing became harsh and Neji's hands were roaming all over her body, but Tenten found that wasn't nearly enough so she pressed closer to him, wishing she could just melt into him and then they would never have to be apart again…

Abruptly Neji pushed her back, got to his feet, and walked to the other side of the room, still panting slightly. He gave her a crooked grin when she stared after him in confusion, and adjusted his clothes back to their original position, "Until we've gotten some form of birth-control, I think maybe we should keep some distance between us."

Tenten laughed, "Good idea," she said ruefully, pushing a hand through her disheveled hair and straightened her clothes. When she looked up again, Neji was frowning, his arms crossed as he stared out the window. "What is it?" Tenten asked softly and he turned abstractedly before replying, "I was just thinking – Uchiha sounded like he knew for a fact that you were pregnant."

She gasped, "Sasuke told you? But how could he have? I didn't tell anyone except … Temari!" Neji glanced at her in surprise when the last word became nearly a shriek. She leapt to her feet and started pacing, "Neji, don't you see? We've been set up! Temari must've told Sasuke, if not all, then some of the details, and he told you. But why? Why would they do that?"

Neji's eyes narrowed as he contemplated her words, "Maybe it's time we paid our _dear _friends a little visit," he said in a low voice.

* * *

_**A/N: Is Neji a bit more likeable? I don't want him to change too much – he's still Neji and he still has that side to him, but I wanted to examine how, when it comes to Tenten, he's capable of being different – and a good, sharp shock was necessary to make him see the error of his ways ^^ I don't know if I really succeeded in that *frowns* the muse hasn't been kind with this chapter, but let me know what you thought anyway!**_


	14. Chapter 14

_**A/N: Thank you so so very much for all the reviews/alerts/favorites! And thanks for waiting patiently for the update! I'm so sorry it took so long – I was having some trouble with this chapter, even rewrote it a few times! I'm still not really happy with it, but I hope that you enjoy it^^  
I feel the need to warn you (again) that this chapter does contain a hell of a lot of OOC behavior! LOL  
As always, PLEASE REVIEW!! =D**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**_

* * *

_**Chapter 14**_

Dinner was an uncomfortable affair that night. Both Hinata and Hanabi ate with their eyes downcast, and Neji simply pushed his food around his plate, not even pretending to eat. He was far too aware of the conversation that was looming.

At last, Hiashi set down his glass and pushed his plate away. "I will take coffee in my study," he announced, standing and walking to the door, "Neji, I expect you will join me?"

Though his uncle was making it sound like a request, Neji recognized it for the order it was, and he swallowed slightly. He'd been dreading this all day. When they'd arrived home last night, his uncle had simply let him drag his exhausted body off to bed, and, this morning, he'd already left by the time Neji had gotten up. But he'd known that his uncle expected him to sort the problems out during the course of the day and report back that night, and Neji had no idea what to say.

He was relieved, obviously, that Tenten was not pregnant, but he couldn't help the twisting of nerves in his gut: if he told Hiashi that it had been a false alarm, would he be sent away again? He'd spent most of the afternoon, after Tenten had left – asking him to leave Sasuke and Temari to her – deep in thought, but he still wasn't really sure what he wanted his uncle to know. Everything else aside, Tenten and Hinata were friends too, and Neji did not want his uncle to think badly of her.

At last he merely nodded, and stood to follow Hiashi, who had already disappeared through the door at Neji's nod of acknowledgement. He passed Hinata's chair but jerked to a surprised stop when her hand shot out, taking a firm hold of his wrist. "Neji, please," she whispered, "just try to control your temper – if you can give him logical reasons why you should stay, then he'll be much more receptive to the idea." Neji stared at his cousin in surprise but she merely dropped his wrist and started gathering the dirty dishes together.

He entered the study almost hesitantly, and then gave himself a firm mental shake – he was not about to run away again. This time he'd be damned if he'd go down without a fight. His mouth firmed with resolve, and Neji was so intent on his thoughts he barely even noticed the entrance of their housekeeper with the coffee just behind him. She exited the room again and Hiashi indicated for Neji to take the chair in front of the desk with a wave of his hand. "Well?" his uncle asked, once Neji was seated.

Neji took a deep breath, "False alarm," he said shortly, and then quickly launched into what he wanted to say before his uncle had a chance to respond, "But that doesn't mean that I want to go back to Cambridge. I never wanted to go in the first place. You said that I'm like your son – did you really mean that? Because a father should take his son's wishes into account…" his voice trailed away again, and he firmly met his uncle's gaze.

"Well, I'm very relieved that I'm not about to become a grandfather before my time. Does that answer your question about my regard for you?" Hiashi said, almost absently twirling a pen between his fingers. He dropped it with a clatter and stared at Neji, "I don't understand you at all, Neji. You don't want to go to Cambridge – with all your talent, with all your potential… it seems to me as if you're intent on wasting them. I know that you are angry at me for forcing you to go, but I honestly believe that you have a chance at a brilliant future if you attend a prestigious school. "

Silence reigned while Neji tried his utmost to find the words to explain, "I want a brilliant future – and I want to make you proud, too. But we've never even discussed what I might see as a brilliant future. Everything happened so fast – I'd barely begun to get used to the idea, before you were bundling me onto a plane! But, if you're willing, then I would like to discuss my plans with you now." He stared hesitantly at Hiashi, who nodded slowly after a thoughtful pause.

"I want to take over the family business one day. My father … he didn't want any part of the family, but I do. I want to be a part of something bigger than me; I want to leave something behind that will remain standing for many generations to come. There's a perfectly good business course at the university outside town – I can study there and start learning from you," sudden uncertainty tainted Neji's voice, he'd never meant to disclose everything he'd always planned on, "That is, if you think I'm good enough – if you think I can make a meaningful contribution," he finished awkwardly.

His eyes dropped to his lap, and he waited in tense silence for his uncle to respond, "Neji, the company can always use fresh talent – of course you would be welcomed, but are you sure that's what you want? Somehow, I always thought you would aim higher than that." Hiashi's voice was low, devoid of rancor, and Neji smirked slightly, "Never said I wouldn't run for president some day."

Hiashi shook his head, and sighed, "If this is what you want, then I think we'll have to give it a try. You can start tomorrow, as a mailroom clerk, and I expect you to have full details of the courses as well as the admissions procedures on my desk by the end of the week." He took a slow sip of his coffee, and eyed Neji speculatively, "This sudden urge to stay close to home wouldn't happen to have anything to do with the would-be mother of your children, would it? Who is she? Have I met her?"

Neji swallowed, and fought down the threatening blush. Here it was – the part he'd been dreading. _Damnit, thought he'd be deflected by the 'plans for the future' talk. _Neji cursed inwardly, as he leveled an emotionless stare at his uncle, "No, you don't – she's just some girl – I made a mistake with her but that won't happen again. But there is someone else," he gave in to the inevitable and decided to just go with it and get it all out of the way. "And, yes, she is a part of why I want to stay here. But so are the rest of my friends – and my family."

His uncle nodded slowly, "Neji, I really don't think I need to remind you of how careless your actions were. I sincerely hope that in future you will utilize your intellect before simply embarking on a course of action – no matter how good it feels." Neji nearly choked, but thankfully his uncle seemed to feel that there was no point in giving him The Talk, and he breathed out in silent relief when Hiashi glanced down at the computer keyboard, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I do have some work to take care of."

It was with heartfelt relief that Neji stood to leave. His hand was on the doorknob when the sound of his uncle clearing his throat caught his attention and he turned around questioningly, "I know you will do our name proud," Hiashi said, not looking at Neji.

For a moment, Neji was completely floored – he couldn't believe this was his uncle - but then he smirked slightly, "Yes, sir. And thanks," he added on impulse before he quickly pulled the door open and swiftly made his way to his bedroom.

* * *

Tenten didn't bother knocking on Sasuke's front door. She simply reached for the spare key and unlocked the door herself – the more surprised he was the more likely she'd be to get the answers she wanted. She followed the sounds of voices to the kitchen, and found Sasuke and Sakura seated at the table.

Awkwardly, she cleared her throat – sometimes it was still strange to feel this way – as if she didn't have any right to Sasuke's time, but it was gradually getting better and she was too angry at the moment to really care if she'd interrupted or not. She glared at Sasuke, "Sakura, do you mind giving us a minute?"

Sakura nodded slowly, and shot Sasuke a hesitant look but he was returning Tenten's gaze unwaveringly and so she quickly headed into the living room and turned the TV on. Still, curiosity got the better of her and she kept the volume low, so she could make out what they were saying if she really strained her hearing.

"Who told you?" Tenten demanded, staring at Sasuke accusingly, "And why on earth would you tell _Neji_ that I was _pregnant_?!"

Sasuke looked at her for a moment before he answered, his voice heavy, "God. So it's true. You are pregnant?"

Tenten looked confused then outraged, "No! I'm not! That's the point – everyone seems to think I am, and I want to know how that happened!"

For a moment Sasuke seemed confused then he deflected her question with one of his own, "Have you spoken to Neji? I assume that's how you knew that I told him?"

She nodded slowly and then sank down into the nearest chair, "I don't know what exactly you told him – but it really seemed to get to him – he was talking about getting married!" Tenten shook her head incredulously.

"He proposed over the phone?" Sasuke asked, one eyebrow arching in eloquent disdain. Tenten gave him an exasperated look, "Of course not. He's home. I've just come from talking to him – that's how I figured out that Temari must've told you and then you told Neji. What I can't understand is why?"

He wondered what he was supposed to say now, clearly she wasn't about to be put off, and so Sasuke finally decided to tell her as much of the story as he dared – they'd all simply had her best interests at heart and he didn't think it would be fair if he transferred her wrath onto anyone else, "Temari never told me, as such. I deduced. I pay attention, remember?" he gave her a crooked smirk, anything was fair in love and war, and she'd never been able to resist the expression. To his relief he saw the dangerous flicker in her eyes die down somewhat and he judged it safe to continue, "Anyway, you were really unhappy, and I heard Hinata say that Hyuuga was refusing to talk to anyone, and so I decided that maybe a good shock was exactly what he needed. So I left him a voice message," Sasuke shrugged, as if he considered it no big thing, and Tenten gritted her teeth.

"Look, I get that you were just concerned – all of you. But you had no right to do that! If I had wanted help I would've asked for it!" Tenten wished she didn't sound so dangerously close to tears but the events of the day were beginning to catch up with her and she wasn't even really sure how she felt about anything anymore.

"Would you? I mean, really? What if you _had _been pregnant and unable to reach Hyuuga?" Sasuke gave her a searching look, "Somehow I don't think you would've asked anyone for anything."

Tenten shook her head, confused by the tack he was taking, "What does that have to do with anything?"

Sasuke sighed, "We were all worried! And, as your friends, it really sucks to think that you'd rather suffer in silence than tell us what was going on," he glanced back and forth as if debating with himself, "You want to know what I said to Hyuuga that got him so riled up? I'll tell you – I asked if he didn't care that his child would be raised an Uchiha."

Tenten gasped, "Wh-what?"

His gaze finally collided with hers again, "It got him home, didn't it?"

After a long silence, Sasuke finally spoke again, "Look, I just want you to know that, whatever happened in the past, I am your friend and I do care about you. And no matter what predicament you find yourself in you can always come to me for help. So, if you don't want stuff like this to happen, then talk to me - to all of us."

Tenten lowered her head, no matter how ill-advised their actions she could acknowledge that they'd meant well. Finally, she reached over and lightly squeezed Sasuke's hand, "Thank you," she said sincerely, albeit unwillingly – she was still a bit angry - and stood to go.

* * *

For a long time Sakura remained where she was – she'd heard Tenten leave, but she didn't know if she could quite face Sasuke just yet. Nothing he'd said could be interpreted as hurtful and yet she couldn't help but wonder … he'd seemed so willing to just step in and fill Neji's shoes in Tenten's life …

She jumped when he dropped down on the couch next to her – she'd been so caught up in her melancholic thoughts that she'd not noticed him entering the room. "What's wrong?" Sasuke asked after a moment spent scrutinizing her face.

Sakura shook her head, then, abruptly, opened her mouth, "Did you really mean that? What you said to Neji? Would you really have helped Tenten raise his child if she was pregnant?" she held her breath as she waited for his response.

Finally, Sasuke sighed, "I don't know – probably not in the sense you mean, but I would've helped Tenten out if she'd been in such a position. After all, I'm the only one who won't ever have to worry about parental disapproval," he smiled bitterly, and Sakura felt her heart twist.

Sasuke leaned back, dark hair spreading along the couch, and stared up at Sakura through hooded eyes, "Why the sudden jealousy?"

She jumped, "I'm not jealous – or at least not in the way you mean. The entire situation just made me wonder how you would've reacted if it had been me and you in that situation," she shook her head slightly, "I mean, our relationship – or whatever – isn't really any more resolved than Neji and Tenten's is."

He stared at her searchingly – she could feel it, "Sakura," he whispered finally, reaching out to tilt her chin so he could look into her eyes, "I would never let anyone raise our child except for us – and if I absolutely _have _to be an unexpected father, then there's no one I'd rather do that with than you," he leaned back again, and let her go, a slight smile on his lips, "Does that answer your questions?"

Slowly Sakura slid down until she was resting against his side, her head on his shoulder, "I love you, too," she whispered softly, and then both of them simply allowed the peaceful silence to descend, the kind of silence that only comes from being with someone you love.

* * *

Tenten's heart pounded almost painfully in her chest as she waited for Neji to come. She'd received the text message a few minutes ago, and, though it was long past midnight, she also needed to be with him – needed to make sure he wasn't some figment of her imagination, that he was really _here_.

Her bedroom window slid open quietly, and she wanted to stand, but remained where she was, reclining on the bed, as she watched Neji carefully lower his body through. They were both silent until he'd stretched out next to her on the bed, reached over to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, "Hi," Tenten whispered at last – wanting so badly to ask the burning questions but afraid of the answers she might receive.

Neji's eyes were completely unreadable, his stoic expression firmly in place and she couldn't begin to guess what he was thinking - couldn't find any clues on his features that might shed some light on their immediate future.

Almost hesitantly Neji angled his head and lowered his lips to hers, softly licking at her mouth until she gave in and kissed back. Strangely Tenten felt nothing but joy in the kiss – slow, soft, unbearably sweet – and finally she pushed him away gasping for breath. She couldn't take it anymore.

"So, what did he say?" she demanded in an anxious whisper. Her heart felt like it would burst, but slowly a smirk spread across Neji's features, "I'm starting work as a mailroom clerk for the company tomorrow, and come fall, I'll be enrolling for business classes at the campus just outside of town. "

Instinctively Tenten threw her arms around Neji's neck, suppressing the sounds of happiness against his skin. But soon the implications of his words really sank in and she drew back to stare at him seriously, "But, Neji, what about Cambridge? It's a really good school…" her words trailed off uncertainly, but Neji firmly shook his head.

"Good school or not, that's never what I wanted, and you know that," he took her hand and tangled their fingers together, and finally Tenten smiled happily at him again.

"Besides," he whispered as he leaned toward her again, "why would I want to be in a place that doesn't have you?"

* * *

_**Epilogue:**_

_A year later…_

Neji watched with barely concealed impatience as graduate after graduate came forward to accept their diplomas. He'd been living for this day for months. Tenten would graduate and next year she would join him at the university, and they would finally be able to start building their own lives. No more sneaking into her room in the middle of the night, having to rein themselves in so that her parents didn't hear. No more having to leave her in the early hours of the dawn. They wouldn't have to be apart. Ever.

He watched as Sasuke left the stage, and stepped into Sakura's arms, twirling her around before kissing her, and he couldn't help the grudging thankfulness that rose inside him. Much as he hated to admit it, he really did owe the Uchiha rather a lot – so many things would've been different if it hadn't been for Sasuke. Naruto waved the two over and they joined the rest of the group as they waited for the last one – Tenten – to receive her diploma and handshake before they could all leave. A round of parties had already been scheduled and vaguely Neji felt the regret that he hadn't had this – his graduation had been so rushed, he'd missed out on all the fun parts. But he couldn't bring himself to regret the decisions that had brought him here.

He couldn't help but smile when Tenten turned at the edge of the stage and sent a sparkling smile into the audience before walking up to the podium to accept her tightly furled paper, and Neji stood as quietly as he could to leave the seating area. He had no reason to watch the last few people walk across a stage. Then Tenten's turn was over and she left the stage to join the rest of their friends.

Neji made his way over to the rest of the group, and by the time he'd reached them, Tenten had already shed her cap and gown. Throwing the garments haphazardly into Temari's arms, she whirled around and flew into Neji's arms.

"Congratulations, graduate," he whispered when she drew back a little to allow him to breathe. Tenten smiled happily at him, her arms winding around his neck, and she drew his head down, "Now our story can finally begin," she whispered against his mouth.

Neji smiled into the kiss - if anyone had told him two years ago that they were a perfect match, he would've laughed - but, now, he buried his hand in the back of her hair, and simply allowed himself to believe.

The End

* * *

_**A/N: Thank you so much for reading, and for your support throughout this (silly ^^) story – it's been a lot of fun ^^ I hope that everything worked out the way you wanted it to. Don't forget to let me know what you thought!**_


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